
11 



'4 



fS> 



PLATE 1. 




GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION 

OF THE 

Paradise of Childhood. 



A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO KINDERGARTNERS. 

By EDWARD WIEBE. 
Edited by Milton Bradley. 

Revised by JENNY B. MERRILL, Pd.D., 

Director op Kindergartens. Boroughs op Manhattan, The Bronx, and Richmond, New York City, 

s 

including a 

LIFE OF FRIEDRICH FROEBEL 

By henry W. BLAKE, A.M. 



PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED. 



SPRINGFIELD, MASS. 

MILTON BRADLEY CO. 

Boston New York Philadelphia Atlanta San Francisco 

1910 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the yea^' \Vig6 

B\ 

Milton Bradley Company, 

la the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washi,^guJ3. 

All rights reserved. 



Registered at Stationers* Hall, London, Eng]?nd 
All rights reserved. 



K^'^red according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S69. 

BV 

Milton Bradley & Comfany, 
iD the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachir5et»a 

copyright, 1910, 

BY iln,TO:i i.KAI>LE7 OO^, 

eprlnsiieia, Mass. 



J. F, Taplet Company, N. Y. 



(gCi.Ai!65680 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 

GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 

PART I.— SOME ASPECTS OF THE KINDERGARTEN OF TO-DAY. By .Jenny B. Merrill, Pd.D. 

PART II.— THE PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. By Edward Wiebe. 

PART III.— THE LIFE OF FRIEDRICH FROEBEL. By Henry W. Blake, A.M. 



Play is the first means of development of the human mind, its first effort to make acquaintance with the 
outward world, to collect original experiences from things and facts, and to exercise the powers of body and 
mind. — Froebel. 



Play is the electric force of modern education. — .\tlantic Monthly. 



CONTENTS. 



PART I. 

Preface to the Golden Jubilee Edition .... 

Shall there be a Kindergarten Curriculum? .... 

The Kindergarten Program ...... 

Less Mathematics in the Use of Kindergarten Materials 

The Comparati\e \'alue of Forms of Life, Beauty and Knowledge 

Drawing in the Kindergarten and in the Nursery 

The Occupation of Paper Cutting ..... 

Brush Work ......... 

Choice of Color ........ 



ix-x 

1-.5 
6-16 
17-18 
19-20 
21-27 
28-29 
30-31 
32-33 



of 



Plate I, The Kindergarten Out-of-Doors 

Plate II, Bunny, The Center of Interest 

Plate III, Play-time .... 

Plate IV, Tick-tock .... 

Plate V, The Farm-yard . 

Plate VI, Our Pets .... 

Plate VII, Before and after Christmas 

Plate VIII, Construction Work, Floral Chains, 

Plate IX, Animal Forms in Paper Cutting 

Plate X, Stages of Progress in the Drawing 

Plate XI, Practice and Object Drawings 

Plate XII, Illustrative Drawings 

Plate XIII, City Life— Illustrative Drawings 

Plate XIV, Free Cutting, Tearing, Sewing 

Plate XV, Brush Work 

Plate XVI, Paper Cutting and Coloring 

Plate XVII, The Blacksmith, the Carpenter, 

Plate XVIII, Constructive Work 

Plate XIX, Decorative Borders . 

Plate XX, Clay Modeling . 



, etc. 
a Horse 



the Miner 



34-3.5 
3.5 
35 
36 

36-37 
37 
37 
38 
38 

38-39 
.39 
39 
40 

40-41 

41-42 
42 

42-43 

43-44 
44 
44 



vi CONTENTS 

PART II 

PAGE 

Preface to First Edition 47 48 

Preface to Second Edition ........... 49-50 

Establishment of a Kindergarten .......... 51 

Means and Ways of Occupation .......... 52 

The First Gift 53-59 

Editor's Notes: General Impression — Color — Form — Motion. 
The Second Gift 60-67 

Editor's Notes. The Sphere — The Cube — The Cylinder. 
The Third Gift 68-80 

The Presentation of the Third Gift — Preparation for Constructing Forms — 
Forms of Life — Forms of Knowledge — Forms of Beauty. Editi?r's Notes. 

The Fourth Gift 81-92 

Preparation for Constructing Forms — Forms of Life — Forms of Knowledge — 
Forms of Beauty. Editor's Notes; Furniture Sequence — Baker Sequence — 
House Building and Furnishing Sequence. 

The Fifth Gift 93-109 

Cube Twice Divided in Each Direction — Forms of Life — Forms of Knowledge 
— Forms of Beauty. — Editor's Notes: First Sequence — Second Sequence — 
Third Sequence. 

The Fifth Gift B 110-112 

Forms of Life — Forms of Symmetry. 

The Sixth Gift 11.3-122 

Large Cube, Consisting of Double Divided Oblong Blocks — Forms of Life — 
Forms of Knowledge — Forms of Beauty. Editor's Notes: A Life Sequence — • 
A Beauty Sequence. 

The Seventh Gift 123-142 

Square and Triangular Tablets for Laying of Figures — The Quadrangular Laying 
Tablets (Squares). Right- Angled Triangles — Forms of Life — Forms of Knowl- 
edge — Forms of Beauty. The Equilateral Triangle — Forms of Knowledge — 
Forms of Beauty. The Obtuse-Angled Triangle with Two Sides Alike — The 
Right-.4ngled Triangle with No Equal Sides. Editor's Notes. 

The Eighth Gift 143-150 

Sticks for Laying of Figures. Editor's Notes. 

The Ninth Gift 151-156 

Whole and Half Rings for Laying Figures. Editor's Notes. 

The Tenth Gift 157-185 

Material for Drawing — The Vertical Line — The Horizontal Line — Combination 
of Vertical and Horizontal Lines — Oblique Lines — The Curved Line. Editor's 
Notes. 

The Eleventh and Twelfth Gifts 186-198 

Material for Perforating and Embroidering. Editor's Notes: Elementary Color 
Teaching. 

The Thirteenth Gift 199-208 

Material for Cutting Papers and Mounting Pieces to Produce Figures and Forms — 
Mounting and Figures. Editor's Notes. 



CONTENTS 



Vll 



The Fourteenth Gift .... 

Material for Braiding or Weaving. Editor's 
The Fifteenth Gift .... 

The Interlacing Slats. 
The Sixteenth Gift .... 

The Slat with Many Links. 
The Seventeenth Gift .... 

Material for Intertwining. Editor's Notes. 
The Eighteenth Gift .... 

Material for Paper Folding. Editor's Xotes. 
The Nineteenth Gift .... 

Material for Peas- Work. Editor's Notes. 
The Twentieth Gift .... 

Material for Modeling. Editor's Notes. 
The Kindergarten Games . . . , 

Teaching Little Children to Sing 



Notes 



PAGE 

209-21.1 



216-220 
221-228 
229-2.30 
231-2.37 
238-241 
242-248 



247 

249 



PART III. 



Introduction to the Life of Froebel 
Map of Central Germany 
The Life of Froebel 

In His Father's House 

With His Guardian 

The Forester's Ajiprentice 

A Student of Jena 

Becomes a Teacher 

Relations with Pestalozzi 

Final University Studies 

A Soldier of the Legion 

Curator at Berlin . 

Principal at Keilhau 

In Switzerland 

Blankenburg 

Wanderings about (lermany 

Marienthal 

Since Froebel's Death 



PASS 

253-2.55 
256 
257-308 
257-261 
261-263 
263-265 
265-267 
267-270 
270-272 
272 
273-275 
275-276 
277-282 
282-283 
284-286 
286-290 
290-299 
299-308 



PREFACE TO THE GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 

Jenny B. Merrill, Pd.D. 

When I first heard the title of this book, " The Paradise of Childhood," applied to the kindergarten, 
verily, thought I, this name is well deserved and aptly chosen, for the original edition fell into my hands 
shortly after my first visit to the kindergarten of Madam Maria Kraus Boelte in New York city. 

The enlarged edition has held its own since 1896, proving a helpful guide to many teachers and 
mothers remote from training centers as well as an excellent text or reference book in training classes. 
The life of Froebel, written for the Quarter Century edition, by Henry W. Blake, A.M., has proved in- 
\aluable and will remain intact in this edition. 

The purpose of the present edition is to present some of the later results of kindergarten progress 
in comparison with the past. Certain changes have been introduced gradually under the beneficent 
criticism of psychologists and physicians, and the influence of general progress in the whole sphere 
of education. 

It should not be forgotten that this general progress is due in part to the study of Froebcl's writ- 
ings, especially "The Education of Man." This book has been and is now being studied by teachers in 
normal schools, colleges, and universities. It is recognized as one of the great educational classics 
touching, as its title suggests, education at all points. Kindergartners for many years neglected this 
book, confining themselves too closely to the details of kindergarten gifts and occupations, but with the 
general progress of educational thought they too are now studying Froebel's views on broader lines. 

Differences of opinion have arisen, as they always do when people really think and study instead of 
blindly following a leader. That for a season kindergartners must recognize a conservative and a 
progressive element in their ranks is not surprising. These two elements always work together in ever}- 
line of human thought for the good of each other and of the whole. They simply represent two ten- 
dencies of the human intellect. 

''The kindergarten is so good," said a thoughtful mother to me, "that it is hard to spoil it very 
much." This response was given in reply to the particular kindergarten her children were attending. 
More recently, a professor of education in one of the great universities remarked to a friend, " My little 
boy attends a very conservative kindergarten, the very kind I disapprove, but there is no other near 
my home and he needs the companionship of children of his owni age. Notwithstanding our differences 
in opinion, I could not repay the kindergartner for the excellent results in the training of my little son." 

Dr. .John Dewey says in "The School and Curriculum," " It is easier to see the conditions in their 
separateness, to insist upon one at the expense of the other, to make antagonists of them, than to dis- 
cover a reality to which each belongs. The easy thing is to seize upon something in the nature of the 
child, or upon something in the developed consciousness of the adult, and insist upon that as the key 
to the whole problem. When this happens a really serious practical problem — that of interaction — is 
transformed into an unreal and hence insoluble theoretic problem." 

In " Education of Man " Froebel speaks of the value of comparison. He says, " Only the study of the 
life of others can furnish such points of comparison with the life one himself has experienced." It 
is, after all, "the golden mean" which we are .seeking. "Education is an art, the practice of which 
can become perfect only through many generations," said the great philosopher, Kant. 

Both conservatives and progressives unite in recognizing the kindergarten as the social center 
needed by children after the first three or four years of life have been nurtured in the home. 

The child begins at this age to show symptoms of needing more exjseriences than the home alone 
can provide. Indeed this age has been denominated "the first runaway age." Many a little one, 



X PREFACE TO THE GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 

following the natural instinct to extend his or her environment, breaks bounds and runs through the 
garden gate, or " off the block" if a city child. The well-known lost child is the result. 

If now we foresee this tendency of the child to enlarge his boundaries, and if we accept Froebel's 
thought that education should necessarily be "passive, following, only guarding and protecting in its 
first principles," have we not found a key to the age when the child may safely leave his home daily 
for a few hours? All kindergartiiers, therefore, agree on this point, namely, the need of e.xtending the 
exi)eriences of the young child and of introducing him into a child society approaching his own age. 
"The child needs the child" may be called their w'atchword. "Children educate each other under the 
guidance of adults," says an eminent professor of pedagogy. 

The strongest and final plea for the value and necessity of kindergartens for children of the 
rich, of the poor, of the neither-rich-nor-poor, is this very one of the social need of children for each 
other's society. This is eminently true in a democratic country where children are to be trained to take 
the initiative and to work in groups with a leader, and gradually learn to be willing to lead or to follow 
for the good of the whole community. 

No system of education other than the kindergarten so full)' recognizes the sacredness of the 
individual while impressing at the same time that no one lives to himself if he lives well. Many of 
the trying faults of little children in the home disappear, so mothers testify, as if by magic, in the 
social atmosphere created by a group of children in the kindergarten. 

The various criticisms of the kindergarten and the varying views of kindergartners are all a sign 
of healthy growth. Some extreme critics have endeavored to lead parents and school boards, now and 
again, to cjuestion whether the kindergarten is an essential educational factor. A few writers are 
seeking to persuade parents to turn back to the doctrines of Rousseau and let the child run wild, for 
health's sake, during these early years. The decision of tliis important matter in any individual case, 
namely, whether the child will profit by attendance in a kindergarten, must, indeed, turn upon 
considerations of health. 

The average, normal, healthy child of four or five years at the latest, needs the society of the kinder- 
garten for a year or two before entering the primary school. Parents have reported impro\'ement in 
the health of nervous, delicate children after entering a small kindergarten, regular habits and exercise 
in the society of normal children having pro\'ed a benefit. 

In Dr. Wm. H. Maxwell's Second Annual Report (1899) the attention of the Board of Education 
of New York city was directed to the importance of the kindergarten in these strong words: "The 
kindergarten has long since passed the experimental stage. It has demonstrated its usefulness. 
Argument is no longer needed to show the wisdom of its founder." Dr. Maxwell has since .secured the 
establishment of nearly a thousand kindergartens in New York city. 

The only criticisms of the kindergarten that need concern a parent seriously are those urged by 
physicians. These must be carefully considered. They include sanitary conditions, over-nervous 
stimulation caused in part by large rooms and hence large numbers, and hand-work requiring the over- 
use of the smaller muscles. Any intelligent parent may soon discover whether these unfortunate con- 
ditions exist in a particular locality. If they do exist, let parents use their infiuence in the community 
to remedy sanitary conditions for the sake of their own and their neighbors' children. 

After many years of observation of children in hundreds of kindergartens, taught by kinder- 
gartners representing over forty different training schools in twenty cities, I have formulated the 
following kindergarten creed: 

A KINDERGARTEN CREED. 

1. I believe that children need each other's society 3. I believe that play is the natural means of 
for their highest development. developing the child's body and mind, that play 

2. I believe that from four to six years of age or may be so conducted as to lead gradually into the 
possibly seven, it is usually best for boys and girls more restricted life of the school. (I also believe 
to play together in groups for two or three hours that the social and communal interests of the 
daily, under adult guidance away from their homes, kindergarten should extend upward into the 
in kindergartens. school.) 



PREFACE TO THE GOLDEX JUBILEE EDITION'. 



XI 



4. I believe that the physical care of the child 
demands especial attention up to the seventh j'ear, 
and hence that it is a question whether young chil- 
dren should be called together unless they are pro- 
vided with light, airy and sunny rooms. 

5. I believe that every possible effort should be 
made to keep children in touch with nature and 
natural objects. 

6. I believe that simple garden work and the care 
of animals should be especially encouraged. 

7. I believe that the best materials for play in 
the kindergarten are indicated by Froebel, that the 
most important of these are balls, building blocks, 
sand, clay, paper, crayon or brush, and scissors. 
The constructive play with these materials or other 
plastic materials should follow naturally a few simple 
industries and such play should develop gradually 
into work 

8. I believe that games and rhythmic exercises 
should be developed mainly by imitation of human 
activities and of animal movements which children 
have observed. I believe that informal acting or 
playful dramatizing should precede the formal 
games of the kindergarten. 



9. I believe that pictures, stories and songs should 
be used freely at this age. They have long been 
recognized as potent in child training. If well 
selected they will carry the child Ijeyond his en- 
vironment and help him in forming ideals. 

10. I believe that periods for free or undirected 
play are essential in the kindergarten, not only for 
the child, but also for the kindergartner to aid her 
in studj-ing children. Home playthings, as the 
doll, doll-house, a few simple toys and pictures 
books are desirable in the kindergarten as incentives 
to play and to social life. 

11. I believe that the child needs the child and that 
the social life of the kindergarten is its most valuable 
feature, that the communal life at this age enlarges 
human relationship at a time when the child needs 
to find his "social level" and provides a better 
atmosphere for moral training than the home alone 
can provide. 

12. I believe that during this early period by all 
means that have been mentioned, the child is gather- 
ing " experience-knowledge " of his environment 
and of his fellows which will prove the best possible 
basis for school life and for all future development. 



PART I. 



SOME ASPECTS OF THE KINDERGARTEN 

OF TO-DAY 

JENNY B. MERRILL. Pd.D. 



II 



THE CHILD-GARDEN. 

In the child-garden buds and blows 

A blossom lovelier than the rose. 

If all the flowers of all the earth 

In one garden broke to birth, 

Not the fairest of the fair 

Could with this sweet bloom compare. 

— Richard Wat.son Gilder. 



i'LATE II. 




72 



a 






PART I. 
SOME ASPECTS OF THE KINDERGARTEN OF TO-DAY. 



SHALL THERE BE A KINDERGARTEN CURRICULUM? 



While it is most important for kindergartners 
and indeed for teachers of all grades to avoid 
over systemization, yet a curriculum has been 
gradually forming as a guide to kindergartners. 

For the guidance of superintendents and 
principals also, a standard has become necessary 
to aid them in forming judgments of kindergartners 
serving in public schools. 

It is difficult to make a condensed and formal 
statement of kindergarten procedure which will 
at the same time set forth the spirit of play that 
controls the method of work. After having 
ventured to formulate a kindergarten course in 
outline, correlated with the primary grades, I 
realized that it might be misinterpreted unless 
play, play, play, could be written all over and in 
and out its pages. 

However, kindergarten children do work as 
well as play, and they do gather some content 
of knowledge. It is a purposeful education. 

With the improvements of the present day in 
the curriculum of the first year of school, it has 
seemed to me possible to use similar headings 
in the kindergarten and thus make apparent to 
ourselves and to our associate teachers the organic 
continuity now existing between the kindergarten 
and the grades. The headings in the first year 
are: 1. Nature study, 2. Language, 3. Number, 
4. Music, 5. Physical training, 6. Drawing and 
Construction. Hence I offered the following 
kindergarten course, using these same topics in 
the Kindergarten Review in June, 1905. 



A KINDERGARTEN COURSE* 

(Correlated with the Primary Course of Study). 

A KINDERGARTEN couTse may be classified under 
the following heads: 

Moral Training. 

1. Appropriate conversations, pictures, stories 
and songs. 

2. Punctuality and cleanliness enforced; care 
of room. 

3. Acts of politeness and kindness encouraged 
and frequently suggested. 

4. Instrumental music used to arouse and to 
quiet. 

5. Care of animals and plants. 

6. Observation of holidays and birthdays, 
(especially children's and parents' birthdays). 

7. Interest in the school, the flag on the school 
and in the kindergarten room, the streets, parks 
and monuments of the city, leading to simple 
thoughts and songs of our country. 

8. Sympathy — pleasant tones of voice. 

9. Consultation with parents. 

Physical Training. 

1. Marching, skipping, running and other 
rhythmic movements, accompanied by instru- 
mental music. 

2. Gymnastic exercises, imitating (a) familiar 
movements seen in the home and in the street: 



* See June, 1905, Kindergarten Review, page 030. 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



(6) movements of workmen: (c) movements of 
animals. 

3. Finger plays. 

4. Ball games, rolling, bouncing, throwing and 
catching. 

5. Games for training the senses. 

6. Games in a ring: (a) Trade games; (6) 
nature games; (c) social games; id) impromptu 
plays suggested by stories and songs. (May be 
classified also under Moral Training.) 

7. Free play at recess, introducing a few com- 
mon toys, as balls, tops, jumping ropes, bean 
bags, reins, dolls. 

Nature Interests. 

1. Observation of the sun, the moon, the stars, 
the sky, the clouds, rain and snow, the sunset, the 
rainbow, shadows indoors and out-of-doors, long 
and short days, the seasons, etc. 

2. Care of living animals, as a cat, a kitten, a 
rabbit. Picture books of animals used daily. 
Sounds of animals imitated. Observing life in 
the aquarium. 

3. Care of the caterpillar, its cocoon, the but- 
terfly or moth, ants, flies, spiders, bees. 

4. Planting flower and vegetable seeds in 
springtime; fall planting; watering plants. 

5. Naming plants, flowers, fruits, grains, au- 
tumn leaves, dried grasses and grains used in 
decoration, pictures. 

6. Sorting and arranging seeds, shells and 
pebbles. 

7. Obser%dng nests and other homes of animals. 
Learning names of natural objects in the cabinet, 
as acorns, cones, chestnut burrs, milkweed pods, 
mosses, etc. (See Language). 

Note. The children handle and play with 
these natural objects, learning their names, 
colors and uses: there is no formal study of 
them. 

8. Walks and excursions if possible. 

Language. 

1. Stories ind conversations relating to life 
in the home, the doings of children, cleanliness 
and health, the life of animals and plants, the 
weather, the seasons, the holidays, etc. 

2. Memorizing choice songs; also rhymes and 
jingles. 

3. .\ttempts at reproducing simple stories. 

4. Practice in distinct enunciation; a few 
phonic elements compared with sounds made by 
animals. 



5. Special effort to enlarge the vocabulary by 
learning the names of things seen and handled 
in the kindergarten. 

Number and Form. 

1. Counting children, blocks, splints, shells, 
acorns, edges, corners. 

2. Measuring sticks from one to five inches; 
measuring edges of squares and cubes. 

3. Naming combinations of numbers in eight 
by building with the third and fourth gifts, ex- 
tended in the use of the fifth and sixth gift. 

4. Naming and combining halves and quarters 
in building and in paper-folding. 

5. Suggestion of twos, threes, fours in weaving. 
Note. All work in number and form merely 

incidental. 

Music. 
' 1 . Listening to instrumental music. 

2. Singing to children. 

3. Memorizing simple songs. 

4. Marching to music; also recognizing and 
responding in movements to various rhythms. 

5. Practice in sense games in recognizmg notes 
that are alike and unlike, high and low. 

Handwork. 

1. Building with blocks. 

2. Modeling in sand and clay. 

3. Designing and outlining with tablets, sticks, 
rings and seeds. (Limited.) 

4. Drawing. Illustrative and object. Daily 
practice on the blackboard. 

5. Painting. Flat washes of a single color, 
painting mainly natural objects having bright 
colors. 

6. Weaving with colored splints in heavy 
manila mats; paper mats and fringes (not less 
than one-half inch in width) ; free weaving with 
grasses or raffia. 

7. Sewing with or without a needle. (Limited.) 

8. Paper-folding. Simple forms and objects 
developed from squares, oblongs and circles. 

9. Paper-cutting and Mounting. (a) Free 
and illustrative; (6) cutting to crease and line. 

10. Construction of simple objects of interest 
to children as toys. 

Comenius, who was the forerunner of Froebel, 
has shown us that we can discern the beginnings 
of all knowledge in the "School of Infancy." 

It is in this spirit that the classification we have 
presented must be considered. 



PLATE III. 





THE KINDERGARTEN OF TO-DAY. 



I have said elsewhere, "Such an outline rep- 
resents the character of the work to be accom- 
plished rather than the quantity. It must not 
be interpreted to mean that every child in every 
kindergarten is to become familiar with every 
topic suggested." 

It is not desirable to limit a definite number 
of " folds" or even objects to be made in kinder- 
gartens nor the number of songs and stories. 
The exact ages of the children, for even a few 
months count on a child's age materially, the size 
of the kindergarten, for more can be accomplished 
with twenty children than with thirty or forty, 
the home and the school environment, the na- 
tionality, all these make it very necessary for 
the kindergartner to exercise liberty in deciding 
details. 

It is most important that no formal tests or 
drills be employed by a principal or superintendent. 
No one can with impunity at this age dig up the 
roots of knowledge to see if they are growing. 
An examination of a kindergarten child on these 
topics would be little short of absurdit3\ 

What the kindergarten child learns is not to 
be considered as so much definite knowledge, but 
rather as living experience through which a 
basis for primary subjects is laid. 

In the course as given above, all technical 
kindergarten terms are purposely omitted. Tech- 
nical language is not without value in its place 
but there is no significance in such terms as gifts 
and occupations, that is not translatable into 
terms more familiar to the primary teacher, 
and we desire her to understand what has been 
attempted. 

The especial object of this course being to show 
an underlying continuity between the kinder- 
garten and the grades, it was thought advisable 
to substitute the more general term handwork 
for gifts and occupations, although it may not 
convey the whole meaning of those terms so 
familiar to every kindergartner. 

This outline course was approved by Dr. 
George S. Davis, now president of the Normal 
College of the City of New York, but at the time 
an assistant city superintendent in New York 
city and Chairman of the Committee on Manual 
Training and Kindergartens. Indeed it was he 
who asked me if such an outline course could not 
be prepared for the Paris exhibit to set forth the 
fact that our public kindergartens had actually 
become an organic part of the system of public 
education in America. 



The present syllabus, adopted by the Board 
of Superintendents of the City of New York in 1905, 
is based upon the foregoing course, but shows a 
different form of statment. It is as follows: 

THE KINDERGARTEN. 

The following are the lines of work that should 
be included in kindergarten instructiom: 

Nature Study. — In nature study, the children 
should observe and care for animals and plant 
life, and should make daily observations of 
natural phenomena. The teacher should take 
the children on excursions to the parks and fiekls, 
and should encourage them to work in out-of- 
door gardens. 

L.^NGUAGE. — Stories and conversations in the 
kindergarten should relate to life in the home, 
the doings of children, cleanliness and health 
life of animals and plants, the weather, the sea- 
sons, the holidaj's, etc. In story telling, the stories 
should be illustrated with blackboard sketches, 
pictures and objects. The stories should be 
reproduced concretely through the medium ol 
games and adaptable material ; later, as an intro- 
duction to language, the stories should be re- 
produced orally with great freedom of expression. 
A special effort should be made to enlarge the 
vocabulary by teaching the names of all objects 
seen and handled in the kindergarten. A few 
rhymes and jingles should be memorized. 

Songs. — In music, the children should be 
taught to listen appreciatively to instrumental 
music and to singing. In singing by the children, 
only such songs should be selected as unite ex- 
pressive melody to appropriate words, and those 
in which the rhj'thm of poetry and music coincide. 
The voice compass should extend from E first line 
to E fourth space of the staff. Only soft singing 
should be allowed at any time, and great care 
should be given to enunciation and expression. 
Singing during marches and physical exercises 
is not advisable. 

Games. — In physical training, the play and 
games should be interpretive and expressive of 
every-day life. They should lead to a control 
of the muscles, and to mental and social develop- 
ment. They should include marching, skipping, 
running and other rhythmic movements, accom- 
panied by instrumental music; gjTnnastic exer- 
cises, in which the children imitate famiUar 
movements seen in the home and in the street, 
movements of workmen, and movements of 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



animals: finger plays; ball games, as rolling, 
bouncing, throwing and catching; games for 
training the senses; games in a ring, as trade 
games, nature games, social games, impromptu 
plays suggested by stories and songs; free play 
at recess, introducing a few common toys, as 
balls, tops, jumping ropes, bean bags, reins and 
dolls. 

Handwork. — The handwork is suggested by 
the kindergarten Gifts and Occupations. It in- 
cludes building with blocks (Gifts II to VI) ; 
designing and outlining common objects with 
tablets, sticks, rings and seeds; modeling in sand 
and clay; drawing, both illustrative and object, 
with heavy crayons; practice on blackboard; 
painting both illustrative and object; (seepara- 
graph on Nature Study and on Stories for 
suggestions of pictorial subjects in drawing, 
painting and modeling) ; weaving with colored 
splints in heavy manila mats, and in paper mats 
with fringes of inch and half-inch widths; occa- 
sional free weaving with grasses or raffia; sewing 
with or without a needle ; paper folding of simple 
forms and objects developed from squares, 
oblongs and circles; paper cutting and mounting, 
the cutting to be free and illustrative, or restricted 
to the crease and line; construction of simple 
objects by combining paper-folding with cutting 
and pasting. 

No occupation work should be introduced 
which is injurious to the eye, such as fine 
perforating, fine sewing and fine weaving. 
The work with the gifts and occupations 
should be partly directed and imitative and 
partly inventive. 

Relation to the Primary Grades. — In order 
to co-ordinate the kindergarten and the primary 
grades, the kindergarten exercises should be 
modified toward the close of the term in prepara- 
tion for promotion. There should be periods 
of silent work and a greater proportion of in- 
dependent work in the advanced group. The 
close connection between the kindergarten and the 
first year of school work is indicated by the topics 
under which the kindergarten occupations are 
classified in this syllabus. 

Kindergartners shoukl re-read frequently 
these outlines, also the outlines for the first 
school year and judge carefully whether they 
give a due proportion of time to the different 
phases of work. 

Each topic should also be made from time to 



time a subject for discussion at conferences, 
among kindergartners and teachers. 

The kindergartners and primary teachers are 
particularly interested in the last paragraph, 
and many pleasant visits have been made by the 
kindergartner with the children to be promoted 
during the week before promotion. 

Going into a strange room to remain with an 
unknown teacher is a severe ordeal for a timid 
child, but going with the kindergartner with the 
prospect of returning is a happy experience for 
all and paves the way for an ideal promotion. 

One or two reports of kindergartners who have 
carried out this plan successfully may prove 
suggestive to others. 

Report L The children to be promoted visited 
the first primary grade, listened to the older 
children sing and tell stories, and in turn sang and 
told stories for them. When we returned to 
our kindergarten room, we told the younger 
group what we had seen and heard and done. 

Report 2. I visited the lA class both before 
and after promotion. 

The children were allowed to sit in the desks 
to try them, and to look at the readers with 
pictures in them that they would soon learn to 
read. 

They were delighted to see paper-cutting on 
the walls and to be able to say, "Oh, we can cut 
too." 

Report 3. A bond of sympathy exists between 
the first grade and our kindergarten. We have 
invited each of the first-year classes to visit us 
in our kindergarten to share the nature material 
sent us from the country. 

We have contributed toys to establish a play- 
time for lA classes on Friday afternoons. 

During the month before promotion, we have 
tried to prepare the children for promotion by 
establishing stricter discipline. 

Report 4. The reports from the first grade 
teacher are encouraging. The children seem to 
be taking hold of the grade work with great in- 
terest. 

Kindergartners who object to the idea of a 
course of study or curriculum, often in lieu of 
it use a program suggesting topics for the year. 
The development of such a detailed daily pro- 
gram will be considered in another chapter. 

A curriculum is general and intended as a 
guide to superintendents, principals, teachers 
and intelligent parents who desire to form a 



THE KINDERGARTEN OF TO-DAY. 



general notion of possible results, as well as to 
kindergartners themselves. 

Any formulated kindergarten course must 
always be considered much less binding than a 
school course. 

The reason for this is clear if we appreciate 
Froebel's distinction between childhood and boy- 
hood. He says in "The Education of Man," 
in the first section of the third chapter, "As the 
preceding period of human development. The 
period of childhood, is predominantly that of hfe 
for the sake merely of living, for making the in- 
ternal, external, so the period of boyhood in pre- 
dominantly the period of learning, for making the 
external internal." 

While there is a reason for this distinction, it 



is also true that school life of every grade is 
being made more and more a real life of activity 
and not one of mere absorption. 

This view of school was fully set forth by Dr. 
John Dewey in "School and Society" some 
years ago. This remarkable book and its re- 
markable exponent, the school estabUshed by 
Col. Francis W. Parker, have been among the 
agencies tending to establish a mutual under- 
standing between kindergartners and teachera 

It was Col. Francis W. Parker who once said: 
" One and all of the true principles of education 
are applied in the kindergarten; these principles 
should be applied (simply changing the applica- 
tion to adapt it to different stages of growth) 
through all education, up to the gates of heaven.' 



THE KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM. 



As noted in the foregoing chapter the interest 
of kindergartners is now centering upon the 
yearly kindergarten program, and the day's 
order of exercises. 

The kindergarten program appears to have 
passed through several stages. 

It was comparatively unorganized in the days 
of Froebel and his immediate successors. Froe- 
bel's new, well-organized materials of play were 
doubtless considered sufficient of themselves to 
suggest what to do from time to time. 

AH out-of-doors was an invitation to play with 
natural objects. Gardening was sure to fill part 
of the day. 

Singing and games were to have their place 
and were introduced spontaneously. " Come, chil- 
dren, let us dance and sing," Froebel would say, 
when he saw an active change of occupation was 
needed. 

Here then we find suggested at least three 
distinct divisions of the day. With the story 
and the picture a fourth element enters naturally 
into the program. 

To enumerate we have: 1. Nature interests, 
walks and excursions, gardening and care of 
pets. 2. The story and the picture. 3. Songs, 
games and physical exercises. 4. Play and work 
with definite kindergarten materials, filling one 
or more periods daily. 

Any formal decision in regard to the number 
of minutes that should be given to each interest 
was thought unnecessary and was doubtless 
left to the common sense of the kindergartner, 
much as a sensible mother arranges a home daily 
program. 

A wise mother is always ready to take advantage 
of the natural variations that arise in the life 
of a young child, who is always fragmentary in 
his interests. Notwithstanding many interrup- 
tions, a wise mother does have a home program in 
mind, though rarely a written one. A mother's 
program is governed first by her ideals, but also 
by the seasons, by the days of the week, by the 
weather, by the hour of the day, and by the 



interests of all the members of the famUy. The 
customs of her country and of the community 
in which she lives also help to regulate the daily 
home round. 

To be yielding at all points tends to make a 
careless home, while to be immovable about 
every detail makes an unhappy home. 

In this simple, homelike fashion Froebel doubt- 
less had a kindergarten program. His was the 
first great period of child study. It is not strange 
that the child's activity led, for the great principle 
" Education should be passive, following, not 
prescriptive, categorical, interfering," had been 
declared by Froebel himself. 

As kindergartens grew in number and became 
more closely affiliated with the school, the need 
of a more definite statement of a program and of 
the daily time schedule became apparent. Let 
us consider then 

THE KINDERGARTEN TIME-SCHEDULE 
OR DAY'S ORDER. 

The little country village in which Froebel 
lived most of his days did not know time schedules 
as do city folk of the present day. Punctuality 
becomes a virtue in a large school and city, 
absolutely essential for the good of the whole. 

Principals must arrange recesses for all grades, 
and children must be ready when attendants or 
older brothers and sisters call for them. In 
short there must be limited liberty, or liberty 
under law and regulation. 

Again all young kindergartners are not able 
to apportion wisely time periods. They are 
aided by having a standard to refer to as a guide, 
a standard subject, however, to slight variations 
according to the judgment of the individual 
kindergartner. No time schedule for a kinder- 
garten or even for a school should be absolutely 
rigid. There should be just enough regularity 
in the kindergarten for the children to form good 
habits and prevent fickleness. 

•llthough an opening circle with its pleasant 

6 



PLATE IV. 




.E-i 



5; 



THE KINDERGARTEX OF TO-DAY. 



greetings, hymns and conversations has been 
generally accepted as the most natural opening 
for a kindergarten day, yet under some conditions 
it has been found advisable to begin the day with 
a table period. For example, suppose several 
children cannot reach the school as soon as others. 
This was the case in a fine private kindergarten 
in a city suburb. Another innovation has been 
a story period in the middle of the morning or at 
the close instead of during the opening period. 
Some kindergartners prefer to close with games 
while others often introduce them immediately 
after the morning circle. 

Freedom to modify must be granted to the 
individual kindergartner. There is no absolute 
order to be preferred for all kindergartens and 
all days. 

With such modifications granted, we ofi'er 
below a time schedule that has been used suc- 
cessfully in many kindergartens. One of its 
new features is that it proposes three table periods 
instead of two, the usual number. Another is 
that it arranges for an afternoon session to be 
attended by children not present in the morning. 

Three hours are allotted to the children who 
attend in the morning, and two hours and a half 
for the children who attend in the afternoon. 
While the morning hours are undoubtedly pref- 
erable for all children, it has been found necessary 
in large cities either to adopt this double plan or 
to exclude many children who should attend. It 
is not desirable for the older children to attend 
one session and the younger the other session. 
Arranging a kindergarten in groups of older and 
younger children, as will be afterwards explained, 
is preferable. Children are imitative, and the 
younger will learn much by association with 
older children. The kindergartner will also be 
relieved in discipline and general class manage- 
ment. 

The time schedule given below apportions 
about one-third of the schedule to physical 
exercises. 

The three table periods are given to 

1. Building (gift work); 

2. Making (occupations) ; 

3. Drawing (art). 

While it has been more general to have but 
two table periods, the third division of table 
work has been introduced in order to secure the 
daily recognition of drawing. 



If other occupation periods demand lengthening 
at any time, the drawing period may be reduced 
to five or ten minutes, but it .should come regu- 
larly everj' day. It is not intended that the gift, 
occupation and drawing periods should always 
fill the exact hours stated. Any period may be 
a little longer or a little shorter than given below. 
The periods are also to be considered inter- 
changeable. It may, for example, be more 
convenient at times to have drawing earlier in 
the day. 

In these three table periods we recognize the 
children as being; 

1. Little builders; 

2. Little makers; 

3. Little artists. 

Three or four days' use of building blocks to 
one with the flat gifts is recommended, work 
in the three dimensions being preferable for young 
children. 

Any given occupation should be continued for 
several days. This is better than to introduce 
a great variety of work every week. Kinder- 
garten children have been accused of a tendency 
to fickleness and great fondness for variety, 
a tendency supposed to rest upon too frequent 
change of occupation. We must learn from our 
critics. 

Children may lose hold of what they have 
learned by not continuing an occupation for several 
days. In many kindergartens it has been cus- 
tomary to change the occupation daily as: 

Monday, weaving; Tuesday, cutting; Wednes- 
day, pasting; Thursday, sewing; Friday, modeling. 

A week is a long period for a child to wait from 
one exercise to another of the same kind. We 
prefer the first plan mentioned. 

During the three periods devoted to gifts and 
occupations, it is often desirable to divide the 
kindergarten into two or more groups. Each 
group in turn works under direction. Five 
minutes of close, careful dictation at one time 
is sufficient for any group. The handwork which 
requires the most individual attention should 
be presented during the hour when the assisting 
kindergartner is present. Too much talking by 
the kindergartner divides attention and distracts 
the child. Children gain confidence in working 
alone part of the time. The kindergartner 
should return to each group and approve the 
work accomplished. 



8 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



With these preliminary cautions and explana- 
tions the following time schedule is presented: 

KINDERGARTEN TIME SCHEDULE. 

(Thia schedule is suggestive. It may be modified to suit 
Conditions.) 

A. M. p. M. 

8.40-9 Children help in preparing room for 12,40-1 

the day. feed animals, water plants, 
also look at pictures and picture books, 
draw on blackboards, play with balls, 
dolls, sand and shells. (Ca'l to circle 
by piano.) 

&-9.20 Morning Circle. Exercises include 1-1.15 

greetings, hymn, songs, finger games, 
observation of weather, roll-call, story 
or short conversation. (Standing 
durint; one or more songs.) 

9.20-9.30 Marching, rhythms or gymnastic 1.15-1.20 
stories. 

9.30-10 Building, designing, measuring, out- 1.20-1.45 

(2 groups) lining, sorting. Number, form, size, or 2-2.25 
or position introduced incidentally. 

10-10.20 Recess — and play with balls, reins, 1.45-2 

bean-bags. etc. Lullaby. (Children Or2.25-2.50 
rest pretending to go to sleep.) 

10.20-10.45 Making familiar objects by means of 2-2.25 

(2 groups) weaving, folding, cutting, pasting, or 1.20-1.45 
sewing, etc. (Concentrate on one or 
two ways of working for several 
successive days.) 

10.45-11.15 Games 2.25-2.50 

(With and without music) or 1.45-2 

(Avoid singing during active games.) 

11.15-11.40 Drawing, brush work, sand or clay 2.50-3.10 

(2 groups) modeling. (Color, form, nature or 1.20-145 
study.) 

11,40-12 Circle. Sense Games, ball games, 3.10-3.30 
story, goodbye song, dismissal. 

Care should be taken in altering this time 
schedule to maintain a due proportion between 
active and quiet periods. At least one-third 
of the time the children should be on their feet. 
No stiff or fixed bodily position should be re- 
quired at any period, but at the same time the 
kindergartner should study correct hygienic 
positions and quietly insist upon them. 

Professor Earl Barnes well states this duty in 
an address given before the Kindergarten Depart- 
ment of the National Education Association 
(1908). He says, "The directive work of the 
kindergartner .so far as guiding activity is con- 
cerned, must lie mainly in the direction of organiz- 
ing the tyrannical but necessary reflexes that 
we call habits. 

The child should learn to walk well, to carry 
his head erect and his chest well forward, to 
step lighlty, to run and dance, to shake hands, 
bow, pass articles or move a chair aside." 

In this time schedule attention is called to 
grouping the children, in order that two or more 
occupations may be simultaneously carried on. 
Small groups of workers add to the social life 
of a kindergarten, leaders are developed and 
conversation is more natural. The plan of having 
several groups also enables the kindergartner to 



handle newcomers with less difficulty and to give 
advanced work to children who are soon to be 
promoted to the grades. 

Grouping helps the kindergartner to individ- 
ualize the children. It makes the children more 
independent, and helps in meeting the criticism 
that some kindergarten children do not know 
how to amuse themselves at home without 
guidance or constant direction. 

The best results in handwork and drawing 
have been secured where three and even four 
small groups have been maintained. 

Many kindergartners find an advantage in 
having all the children work together for a week 
or longer at the beginning of the term. They 
form the children into groups gradually as their 
ability manifests it.self. 

Even in kindergartens where there is no assist- 
ant, the grouping can be carried on successfully. 
Discipline is improved as the children become 
self-helpful. The kindergartner is less liable to 
do too much talking. Talking while children 
are working produces a divided attention and 
prevents a habit of concentration upon the thing 
in hand. The young kindergartner must guard 
against this danger. 

Mr. H. Courthope Bowen, the distinguished 
English author of "Education by Self-Activity," 
gives kindergartners this advice: "Formulate 
your results form time to time, but only to see 
how far you have gone, to judge of what you 
have done. Do not fix them, nor attempt to 
fix them, for you cannot ; life is movement and 
should give freedom." 

Mr. James L. Hughes in discussing the value 
of a kindergarten program says, " What kinder- 
gartners need is not a uniform program, but 
specific outlines of the work that should be 
accomplished in the kindergarten and directive 
laws for making programs." 

Professor Thorndyke likewise suggests the 
necessity for general outlines. (See "Teachers 
College Record," 1904.) 

"There are two reasons," says Professor Earl 
Barnes, "why we cannot formulate a universal 
curriculum for the kindergarten. In the first 
place, the kindergarten must take up and use the 
experience a child has already met; and in the 
second place, it must supplement the home." 

We may add that as homes and experiences 
differ, hence programs must differ in detail, 
although not in their general purpose and trend. 

This thought finds support in the " Education 



PLATE V. 







-I* 



a 



THE KINDERGARTEN OF TO-DAY. 



9 



of Man," where Froebel writes: "The knowledge 
of everything, of its purpose and properties, is 
found most clearly and distinctly in the local 
conditions and in its relations to surrounding 
objects." 

As already stated, the kindergarten program 
has developed since the days of Froebel, passing 
through several stages. 

The latest stage has been denominated by 
Miss Harriette Melissa Mills, the " Humanitarian 
Program," which name accords well with the 
social aims of a kindergarten as stated in "The 
Kindergarten Creed." 

The program should focus upon two main 
factors, home and nature. The industries are 
held incidental to home life. As far as the child 
is concerned, industries grow out of the neces- 
sities of the home. 

The humanitarian program attempts to organize 
the previous experiences of the child rather than 
to increase experience to any great extent. 

The child has been gathering many experien- 
ces in the home up to the time of entering a 
kindergarten. The very fact of leaving home 
regularly for a few hours every day and then 
returning to it, makes the home, its inmates, its 
doings, take on new aspects. The home becomes 
an object of interest and the child becomes more 
conscious of its meaning to him than he has 
been before. 

Hence quite naturally the home becomes the 
center of interesting conversations in the early 
kindergarten days. 

It is now being recognized, however, that such 
conversations should not occupv the very first 
days, for the little ones are being deeply impressed 
with new sights and sounds, and it is more natural 
at first to talk about some of these. In his new 
interests the child will forget to feel homesick, 
yet everything must not seem new and strange. 
There must be a relation through a few strong 
connecting links with the home to help the child 
find himself. These links may be simple toys, 
as balls, building blocks and picture books in full 
sight when he enters the kindergarten room. 
A dolly seated in a doll's chair or in a doll's car- 
riage will even better answer the purpose. There 
are so many small blackboards used in the home, 
nowadays, that the big blackboard will not be 
wholly no\'el. The sand table will attract and 
the aquarium by their novelty. Such objects 
will stand out in the new environment. 

The resemblance to the home furniture. 



chairs and tables, will be felt even though marked 
differences in kind exist. The windows, even 
the stairways, will cause the child to feel that there 
are relationships and similarities between home 
and kindergarten. The number on the door of 
the room may be compared to the number on a 
house. 

Froebel says, "We should not forget that in- 
struction should start from the pupil's own life 
and proceed from it like a bud or sprout." Again, 
" No new subject of instruction should be brought 
to the pupil unless he at least feels vaguely that 
it is based on previous work." 

Froebel is here speaking of the school, but 
in the same way, the kindergarten must endeavor 
to knit the new in the kindergarten world to 
the old in the home life. "That which follows," 
says Froebel, "is always conditional upon that 
which goes before. I make that apparent to 
the children through my educational process." 

"The knowledge before all things necessary 
for the welfare of future generations is that the 
human"mind is choked in the germ by the burden- 
some crowd of notions heaped up and patched 
on foreign to it, rooted in nothing within." 

The child will be happier and more contented 
when he begins to realize the resemblances be- 
tween home and kindergarten. It should be 
the kindergartner's endeavor to hasten this 
realization. 

The best thought to help this union will be 
just the key-note of the kindergarten, play, 
education through play. 

A ball belongs to both home and kindergarten 
and hence is uniting, and helpful as an organizing 
object. The doll, the blocks, the picture book or 
a simple toy may in some cases answer even 
better than the ball. 

The window is always a source of joy to a child. 
It is found in the kindergarten as well as in the 
home. He may look out and tell what he sees» 
Perhaps one child may even see where he lives! 

He looks out and sees the familiar street, hears 
the wagons and the cars. 

He looks up and sees the sky, the clouds or 
possibly the rain and is led through these already 
familiar sights to talk about nature interests, 
nature out-of-doors. 

The child's vocabulary may be very limited at 
first. He knows by experience much that he 
cannot express. New name-words will interest 
him and fix attention upon the object named, 
as the aquarium or cabinet. 



10 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



What is this? and this? and this? Helen 
Keller tells us that the day was " not long enough 
to learn the names of things" when she once 
discovered that things have names. 

A walk around the room may be made very 
pleasing during the first weeks, the kindergartner 
or an older child taking by the hand one or two 
of the braver little ones while the others watch 
the walk. 

On returning to their seats each tells what has 
been seen. 

After walking, running and skipping may be 
suggested, or rumiing may come first. It is 
more natural for a child to run than to walk. 

Marching is much too formal and should be 
reserved for a later jieriod. Children walk, and 
run and skip at home and on the street. They 
do not march. We are making natural con- 
nections and must proceed gradually from the 
known to the unknown. 

Thus the kindergarten Games begin as Froebel 
suggested in walking or "The traveling game." 
(See Pedagogics of the Kindergarten, Chapter 
XIV.) 

Still holding the thoughts of " Home and 
Nature" and "Education by development" as 
watchwords, the kindergartner may now forecast 
a general outline for the year. 

The great holidays already known in the home 
will prove guiding points to some extent — Thanks- 
giving, Christmas, The National Holidays, Easter 
and May-day. Lesser ones of local interest will 
receive attention also. 

These great human festival seasons help to 
make the humanitarian element of our program. 

Nature will guide by seasons and months and 
the days she sends us. 

1. What will the Home yield as suggestive 
topics for the year? 

2. What will Nature yield? 

In answering the first cjuestion the kindergartner 
may in outline gather together the main topics 
for conversations, stories and expressive work 
as follows : 

THE HOME. 

a. Parents; brothers and sisters, especially 
the baby, other relatives and friends, what each 
one does to help the others ; how the child should 
treat each one. Lessons in courtesy. 

b. Pets and how to take care of them. 

c. Playthings. 



d. \'arious kinds of food ; where it comes from ; 
whe brings it; who prepares it; fruits and vege- 
tables as signs of the seasons. (Nature now ap- 
pears — Home and nature cannot be taken sepa- 
rately at all points. Nature surrounds and 
provides for the home.) 

e. What children wear; adaptation of clothing 
to seasons; how mother and father provide it. 
(Here human industries begin to be manifested 
although already started in the talks about help- 
ing in the home.) 

f. Building a home. (Repeated in miniature 
in the making of a doll's house.) Furnishing 
the home ; toy furniture and ornaments. Decora- 
tions, pictures, books, flower-]30ts, window boxes. 

As pre\'iously suggested the community in- 
dustries will arise naturally out of the labor in 
the home. These will vary according to the local 
environment, whether city, country or suburban. 
TJiose which children have seen should first be 
introduced and others added which are less 
familiar. 

Those most commonly considered in the city 
are the baker, the carpenter, the blacksmith, the 
driver, the engineer, the store-keeper, the farmer. 
The men who drive to the city house every day 
bringing food, as the milkman, the grocer, rep- 
resent, it is true, less dignified occupations than 
the farmer, but they appeal first to the city child 
because he sees them every day. A child is 
attracted by the driver and his horse. The horse 
is one of the few animals to be found in the 
city. 

The city child sees not the beginnings of toil 
as does the country child; he must be led out- 
ward from the home, through the street to the 
store, to the parks, to the country. 

Remember Froebel 's word: "The purpose 
of everything is found most clearly and distinctly 
in its local conditions and in its relation to sur- 
rounding objects." Only in this way can the 
child form clear concepts and understand rela- 
tionships. Due proportion should be observed in 
the time given to minor occupations but they 
should not be neglected if they are big in the 
child's world. They should be used simply as 
stepping stones to greater industries. 

The occupations that conduce to the health 
and cleanliness of the home and city should be 
accorded due attention. They are humanitarian. 
If the thought of such labor rests on cleanliness 
and good house-keeping, and is applied in the 
kindergarten daily by "little house-keepers" 



PLATE .VI. 




THE KINDERGARTEN OF TO-DAY. 



11 



as far as is practicable, good results only can 
follow. "Cleanliness is next to godliness." 

By means of a very little garden work, the city 
child will begin to understand the labor of the 
farmer and by story and plays this interest may 
be extended. The helpfulness of each laborer 
to all other laborers should become apparent 
gradually. 

Politeness, courtesy and helpfulness with a 
little self-consciousness and a power to inhibit 
childish impulses will lead gradually to good 
social conduct. Prompt attendance and prompt 
attention to signals will issue in habits of prompt 
obedience. A more thoughtful kind of obedience 
will also gradually develop if the child's initiative 
is not disregarded. His right to his own way 
when it will not injure himself or others must be 
respected by the kindergartner. 

In analyzing the second great subject of the 
humanitarian program, namely Nature, the kin- 
dergartner will doubtless find the following topics 
arise in her mind as she endeavors to think her 
way through her program for the year. Some 
of the points have already been developed in 
connection with home interests. 

AUTUMNAL INTERESTS. 

a. Animals. — Home and kindergarten pets: 
the horse ; the cow and calf ; the hen and chicks ; 
the sheep and lamb; the squirrel; the turkey; 
the duck; the birds that go away; cocoons; 
fishes in the aquarium or the park; shells; in- 
sects. 

b. Plants. — Indoors and out-of-doors. Pre- 
paring window boxes; transplanting; gathering 
seeds: fall flowers; colored leaves; fall fruits 
and vegetables; acorns and chestnuts; seeds in 
pods; bulbs; fall planting; the park; observa- 
tion of tree near by. 

c. Soil. — Clay, sand, stones, pebbles. 
(i. The Weather. 



WINTER INTERESTS. 

a. Anim.\ls. — Pets; bunny; the hor.se; the spar- 
rows and pigeons that did not fly away South ; 
the elephant; the goat and less familiar animals 
found and named in picture books; the reindeer. 

h. Plants. — Grains; dried grasses; evergreens; 
the fir tree; twigs; wood; food for bunny and 
birdie; acorns, cones, and berries collected in 
the fall; observing tree near by. 



c. The Weather. — Days short and cold; 
snow; frost; fire. 

d. Soil. — Clay; sand, stones, pebbles. 

SPRING AND SUMMER. 

a. Animals. — Home pets; hen and chickens; 
farm animals; birds returning: butterflies: bees; 
earth worms possibly noted in garden soil. 

6. Plants.— Budding twigs; sap; maple sugar; 
grass; spring flowers; seeds planted, both flower 
and vegetable; tending garden; the play farm 
or the real farm; watching the flowers on 
walks; tree near by; trees in park; feeding 
animals with pla7its. 

c. The Weather. — Wind; rain, water, the 
seashore. 

MONTHS AND DAYS. 

It may be preferable to some kindergartners 
to outline the j'ear by months rather than seasons. 
The month is a very familiar division of time to 
an adult but not so to a child. The day and the 
season are the most natural and impressive time 
features of the year to a child. A few of the 
most characteristic months should be named 
and their characteristics noted, but the entire 
twelve need not be mentioned in the kindergarten. 
In naming a month, a child does not really know 
what he is naming, as a month is not recognizable 
as a natural division of time. The child cannot 
realize it as "a moon." The calendar helps in 
naming the months, but it is in most cases better 
to reserve the calendar for primary work. 

The seasons, fall, winter, spring and summer, 
have such marked differences that a little child 
can note them clearly enough to appreciate the 
names. 

Much should be made of the day. Sunrise, 
sunset, morning, noon, afternoon, evening and 
night are all connected with home interests. 

"Every day the sun 
.\nd after sunset 
Night and the stars." 

Sun, moon and stars, shadows, the light bird, 
the rain, the rain drop, the rainbow, the snow, 
the snowflake, the snow-star, the wind, a breeze, 
the rustle of leaves, are all words that should be 
intelligently made part of the child's vocabulary 
while in the kindergarten. Each one of these 
words strikes a note from nature and adds a beau- 
tiful image to the contents of the child's mind. 



12 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



"In early childhood the itching palm of every 
sense is an outstretched inquiry to the whole world. 
In the breath of flowers, the tinted clouds: the s«-ish 
and roll of waves, the glint of sunshine, the activity 
of his fellows, the childish cup of satisfaction is 
filled." 

The child should rejoice in every kind of a day 
and be led to name it while it is a present ex- 
perience, as: 

A sunny day, A rainy day, 

A cloudy day, A snowy day, 

A windy day, A warm day, 

A cool day, A wintry day, 
A spring day. 

The moon, crescent, full or half, should be 
observed all through the year. The moon is one 
of the first objects of nature that attracts a child 
to the sky. 

"Lovely moon, lovely moon 
Sailing so high 
Come to the children 
Down from the sky." 

Shadows on the wall, on the floor, in the streets' 
shadows of children, of the houses, of the trees, 
of birds, the light bird and the bright band of 
prismatic colors are all elevating objects of 
thought and add to the love of beauty. "The 
beautiful is the best means of educating the child 
as it has been of the race," says Froebel. 

There is beauty in a florist's window and in the 
fruiterers well-arranged baskets of ripe fruits 
differing from season to season. They are worthy 
a call on some fine day. 

The push carts loaded with richly colored 
vegetables are picturesque, and "The tinted 
garments flapping in the wind" present lines of 
beauty to an artist's eye. 

The smoke curling upward and slowly dying 
away; the eddies in the city street; the curling 
leaves of autumn ; the snowy edges on the window 
sills; the smiling faces of our friends, are all 
objects of beauty. The eye of the city child 
may find beauty everywhere and 

"See in the gutter's tide a volute whirl, 

Or mount to where webbed wires seem to hint 

Of patterns interwoven." 

There must be many variations in subjects 
presented in accordance with the child's environ- 
ment, whether city, suburban, village or countrj'; 
whether near a park or remote from one ; whether 
near a river or bav; the ocean or inland. 



If any particular environment lacks important 
objects of general interest, the kindergartner 
should supply them in pictures, blackboard 
drawings and in sand scenes. She should tell 
stories of children who have seen them, until 
though never seen, such objects become part of 
the life of those who cannot go to them. Thus 
the city child will learn of country life and the 
country child of city life. 

In cities, the street will yield a number of in- 
teresting subordinate topics. The street relates 
itself to home, to kindergarten, to nature and to 
many human interests. 

The street is all " out of doors " to the city child. 
Children shut away from it in orphan asylums 
and who do not walk out often, are jubilant at 
the prospect of "going out." One such child 
stooped to pat the sidewalk. 

From babyhood, the city child dances and 
crows when he sees his street garments. Then 
let the city kindergartner think over the follow- 
ing suggestive questions and weave them little 
by little into her program throughout the year. 

THE STREET. 

Who made the street? What is it for? What is 
it made of? Who takes care of it? Can children 
help? Should children throw pieces of paper or 
skins of fruit on the sidewalk? 

Why not? ^Vhat will you do if you see such 
things on yotu' sidewalk? 

What do some people put on their window- 
sills and front stoops to help make the street 
look pretty? 

What animals can you see in the streets? 
^Vhat kind of wagons? Have you seen a fire 
engine? Who takes care of httle children when 
they cross a crowded corner? What streets do 
you know that have cars on them? What street 
has no cars? Who put the tracks down? Where 
do you go to enter the subway? Did you ever 
see ships at the end of your street? What river 
are they on? Is there a bridge over the river? 
Who built it? What is its name? 

Is your side of the street shady in the morning? 
When is it sunny? Which is the tallest house on 
your block? How many stories high is it? How 
high is your house? Which side of the way is it 
on? What is the name of your street? Is there 
a church on your block? Has it a steeple? Is 
there a school? Is there a tree? Is there a weather- 
vane? Is there a store? Is there a stable? A 



PLATE VII. 




OL U fllUl.STMAS TREE. 



THE KINDERGARTEN OF TO-DAY, 



13 



carpenter's shop? A blacksmith's? What street 
is our school on? How do you come to kinder- 
garten? Can you name every street you cross? 
Let us play cross the street carefully. Who will 
be the policeman? Shall we play we have horses 
and wagons? How shall we make the street? 

The street is the comiecting road between home 
and kindergarten. It has its beauties as well as 
its defects, but it is out-of-doors, the air is free 
and the blue sky is overhead. Perhaps a seed has 
fallen in a cre\'ice, perhaps a vine creeps upwards 
on a house. The child may see the sun, the moon 
and the stars and the lights of evening from the 
street. 

The street will have a message all through the 
year. Teach the Httle ones to look up, to look 
out, to try to find the best in the street, be it 
narrow or wide. 

THE PROGRAil BY WEEKS. 

After such a general gathering together of 
topics based upon Home and N.^ture, the kinder- 
garten passes on to make a detailed weekh- 
program. 

There are fifty-two weeks in the year. Sub- 
tracting holidays, the kindergartner finds she 
may be required to prepare for thirty-nine or 
forty weeks. 

She may lose the principle of continuity if she 
thinks of these weeks separately. It will help to 
unify the work of the year if she thinks of the 
following periods : 

1. Period of organization in the kindergarten 
after the child leaves home. Getting acquainted 
with new friends, new objects, new ways, com- 
paring them with things familiar, ^'acation 
pleasiu-es recalled. 2 weeks. 

2. Period especially devoted to talks about 
home and home friends and their doings. Days 
of the week. Toys. 2 weeks. 

3. Period devoted to nature interests connected 
with the fall of the year; as falling leaves, flights 
of birds, squirrels and nuts, preparation of food 
in the home; cooking one very simple dish as 
apple, or cranberry sauce; making butter: the 
harvest; all leading to the Thanksgi\ing festival. 

7 weeks. 

4. Short period on the coming of winter. Warm 
clothing; fires; watching for snow. 2 weeks. 



5. Period leading to Christmas and the New Year 
holidays. Gifts for our friends. 3 weeks. 

6. Feriod on Mid-icinter. Winter sports ; win- 
ter work leadmg to the industries and trades of 
the community. 4 weeks. 

7. Period leading to the 7iational holidays in 
the month of February. Thoughts of bravery: 
brave men known to children as the firemen ; brave 
animals; brave children; brave soldiers; our 
flag; our country. (St. Valentine; the postman.) 

3 weeks. 

8. Period leading to a Spring festival; awaken- 
ing life of spring in animals and plants. 

7 weeks. 

9. Period devoted to making window or out- 
of-door gardens; life on a farm. May-pole 
celebration. 7 weeks. 

10. Period leading to summer holidays. The 
seashore; the park; the country. Preparing for 
promotion. 3 weeks. 

With these ten periods fixed in mind, definite 
goals, as it were, will be kept in view amd unity 
and continuity will be the more readily attained. 

The kindergartner should now proceed to select 
daily topics, stories, songs, games, gifts and 
occupations for the first period, the period of 
organization. (See Kindergarten Re%'iew, Oct., 
1902, for a Super\-isor's Suggestions for the first 
week.) 

The kindergartner should take walks in the 
vicinity of the school if not already familiar with 
the neighborhood and its possibilities in nature 
and other interests, so that she can readily refer 
to objects famihar to the children. 

To select lists of stories, songs, games and 
occupations for each period or for each month, 
and exact details for a week at a time is usually 
found satisfactory. To plan for all details farther 
ahead than a week with such young children is 
not practicable. PRE\nEws both weekly and 
monthly are in-\-aluable to the kindergartner, yet 
she must be free to meet conditions as they arise 
from day to day. 

The kindergartner in training should studv 
model programs. A mmiber ha\e been pubUshed 
and others are circulated among training teachers. 
Such programs should be explained, criticised 
and used as standards by beginners. 

The outline program at the close of this chapter 
is taken from "Vacation Outlines"* but has been 



♦Adapted from "Outlines for \acation Kindergartens," which also contain similar suggestions for a week's 
work on the seashore and on the farm. Jennv B. Merrill — Milton BR.\DLEr Co. 



14 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



modified so as to be suggestive for the first week 
in September, and also to indicate work for two 
groups. 

The program presented aims to divert the 
children by talking about a pleasant summer 
trip to a park and by jjlaying out the experi- 
ences the children may have enjoyed on such 
occasions. 

If the conditions are favorable, out-of-door 
trips should be introduced in order to help the 
children feel at once the relation between the 
home, the street, the school building and the 
parks, and to prevent overstimulation or fatigue 
by in-door exercises. A kindergartner may in 
any case accompany the children to the door of 
the school building every day, go out upon the 
street and wave a good-by. 

In many instances the trips must be imaginary, 
as they are in the outlines presented below 
on " A Visit to Central Park." 

A kindergartner should make a list of possible 
introductory songs, stories, games and rhymes. 

She should select pictures and objects to be 
used and have them ready of access to bring 
forward at the right moment. 

She should decide which gifts and occupations 
she will introduce. She should know what 
supplies are at hand so as not to be disappointed 
in carrying out her plans. 

A painter mixes his own paints to make his 
own pictures. In like manner a kindergartner 
who wishes to become an artist teacher must not 
hesitate after studying models of good programs 
to make one for herself and paint one anew from 
,year to year. When gifts and materials of all 
kinds are used for expression, rather than to 
develop set sequences, it becomes impossible to 
forecast every detail. Kindergartens differ. Chil- 
dren differ. Localities differ. Supplies differ. 
Kindergartners grow older and wiser. Therefore 
the kindergarten program should be dynamic, not 
static. 

It is better not to attempt to put programs in 
book form lest they lead kindergartners to stagnate, 
but successful kindergartners should continue 
to publish detailed programs in the magazines 
from year to year, as they have been doing for 
mutual help during the past fifteen years. 

The following bibliography on programs and 
program making furnishes the printed material to 
training teachers and students on this subject to 
the present date. The list is arranged clironologic- 
ally so far as the dates are known. 



Practical Suggestions for Kindergartners. Jeanette 

Gregory, 1895. Pub. by C. B. Woodward, St. 

Louis. 
Kindergarten Manual of the City of New York. 

Jenny B. Merrill, 1897. (Out of print.) 
\ Year's Program, Geraldine O'Grady. Kg. 

Review, 1899-00. 
A Fundamental Kindergarten Program, Elenore 

Heerwart. Kg. Review, March, 1900. 
Elementary School Record, Kindergarten Number. 

Prof. John Dewey, Editor, 1900. 
A Year's Program. Kg. Review, 1901-2. 

Note. This program gives suggestions in 

regard to instrumental music. Miss Colburn 

later prepared the Kindergarten Manual for the 

city of Cincinnati. 
Outline for Program Making, Elizabeth Harrison. 

Chicago Kg. College. (I.K.U. Report, 1905.) 
Kintlergarten Program, Nina C. Vanderwalker. 

Milwaukee State Normal School Leaflets, 1901-2. 
Plan of Work in the Kindergarten by months and 

seasons, ,4nne Elizabeth .\llen and her associates. 

The Elementarv School Teacher, Chicago Univer- 
sity 1901-2-3-4-5. 
Through the Year with Trees, Elise Morris Under- 
bill. School Work, April, 1903. 
Outlines for Vacation Kindergartens, Jenny B. 

Merrill. Milton Bradley Co., 1903. Note. In 

booklet form. 
Suggestions for a September Program, Hortense 

M. Orcutt. Kg. Magazine. Sept., 1900. 
Explanations of the New York Kindergarten Syllabus, 

Jenny B. Merrill. School Work, Nov., 1903, 

April", 1904. 
A Last Year's Program, Luella A. Palmer. Kg. 

Magazine, 1905-6. 
Little Folks' Land. A Kindergarten Program, 

Madge A. Bingham. Kg. Magazine, 1905-6. 

Note. Now in book form. 
A Kindergarten Program, Edna Everett. Kg. Re- 
view, 1905-6. 
Suggestions for a Year's Program, Eveline A. Waldo. 

Kg. Review, 1905-6. 
Discussion on the Program, I. K. LT. Kg. Review, 

1905. 
Kindergarten Outlines, Bertha Payne. The Elemen- 
tary, School Teacher, June 1905. 
A Year's Outlines for the Kindergarten, Katherine 

Beebee. Note. In booklet form. 
The Program by Months, Hilda A. Busick. Kg. 

Magazine, 1906-7. 
Daily Program of Gift and Occupation Work, 

Carolyn Bailey and Clara M. Lewis. Milton 

Bradley Co. 
A Year's Program, Jane L. Hoxie. Kg. Review, 

1908-9. 
Kindergarten Program by Months, Lileon Claxton. 

Kg. Magazine, 1909-10. 
The Evolution of the Kindergarten Program, Harri- 



THE KINDERGARTEN OF TO-DAY. 



15 



ette M. Mills. Sixth Year Book of the Society for 

the Scientific Study of Education. Chicago 

University. 
The Kindergarten Program, Harriette M. Mill;!, 

Kg. Magazine, 1907-8. 
The Organic Continuity between the Kindergarten 

and the Primary Grades, Jenny B. Merrill. Seventh 

Year Book of the Society for the Scientific Study 

of Education. Chicago University. 
Present Issues in the Kindergarten, Susan E. Blow. 

D. Appleton Co. 
The Kindergarten in American Education, Xina 

C. Vanderwalker. Macmillan Co. Note. The 

last two numbers are in book form and contain 

criticisms of the kindergarten program in several 

chapters. 
A series of articles in The Elementary School Teacher. 

Chicago University, 1908-9. viz: 
Sept. No. The Relation between the Ideal and the 

Practical in the Kindergarten Program, Luella 

A. Palmer. 
Oct. No. Fundamental Factors in the Making of 

a Kindergarten Curruiculum, Earl Barnes. 
Nov. and Dec. Nos. The Value and Limitations of 

Froebel's Gifts, Patty S. Hill. 
Jan. and Feb. Nos. The Kindergarten Program, 

Bertha Payne. 
March No. The Present Point of View of the Plays 

and Games of the Kindergarten, Mary Boomer 

Page. 
April No. The Occupations of the Kindergarten, 

Alice Tenple. 
Jan. 1910. The Art Work of the Kindergarten. 

Caroline C. Cronise. 

A SUGGESTIVE PROGRAM 

SUIT.\BLE FOR 
.^N OPENING WEEK 

in a vacation school or in the month of Septem- 
ber in a regular kindergarten. 
Aim. 

1. To make children feel at home in their new 
environment. 2. To review a pleasant summer 
e.xperieiice as a basis for action and expressive 
handwork in ihe kindergarten. 
Topic. 

A VISIT TO CENTRAL PARK. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR CONVERS.\TIONS, 
STORIES, SONGS. 

Monday. — Getting acquainted; our names; 
learning to say good-morning and to shake hands ; 



(•lean hands. Where do you live? Is there a tree 
in your street? Is there a park near? What is 
in it? Who takes you there? Do you like to go? 
Would you like to hear a story about some chil- 
dren who went to Central Park? Story told and 
picture shown. Did you ever hear a bird sing 
in a park? Can you sing? Let us try to sing a 
little song now. Teach a simple morning song 
and a finger exercise. 

Tuesday. — Good-morning. Sing the song 
learned. Our names; are all the children here? 
Names of things in schoolroom; compare with 
things at home; schoolroom larger; more win- 
dows; more seats; more children. Try to count 
windows, seats, children; handkerchiefs; cleanli- 
ness. Story continued about children w'ho went 
to the big park; the ride (play train); the baskets 
with the lunch; how they knew when they 
reached the park; many trees; the gra.ss (signs); 
the paths; climbing big rocks: the pond, the 
boats, feeding tne swans; playing ball; going 
under the bridge (play bridge in games) ; watch- 
ing the horses and carriages (play horse in 
games) . 

Teach a song about trees or birds. 

Wednesday. — Good-morning; clean hands; 
names; songs; finger exercises; .show pictures 
of animals. Story of children's visit to Central 
Park reviewed and continued; looking at the 
animals in the park; the workmen who take care 
of them, feeding them, etc. 

Songs of trees, birds and other animals by 
kindergartner or older children. 

Thursday. — Review; story of visit to park 
continued; .seeing the man cut the grass, gather 
stones in wheelbarrows, feed the animals, water 
the roads, etc. 

Song about any work mentioned in the story. 

Friday. — Review; completing scene in sand- 
box; everything in it named; look at pictures 
and objects made during the week and talk about 
them. 

Songs of the w'eek. 

HAND WORK FOR FIR.ST WEEK.* 

1. Sand-table, (a) Small park. Children place 
many trees in the sand, using real branches or 
those made of paper. Teacher indicates a few 



*1. Such materials should be provided for the handwork as will enable the children most easily to express the 
story of the park. In our view the kindergarten handwork should not consist in teaching the use of any particular 
gift or occupation, but rather should it be used to lead the lead the child to expression in some appropriate medium. 

2. The children are supposed to work in two groups. .\t first the younger group may watch the older ones as 



16 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



paths by placing trees regularly; children build 
seals in the park; teacher makes a circular 
flower bed; children put in flowers; children 
build the keeper's house; use splints for railing 
if the park near the school is inclosed; place 
blocks for rows of houses outside of park (older 
children) . 

(6) Central Park, an entrance indicated by 
flower circle; trees; sand covered with grass or 
moss except paths; a few rocks for hilly places; 
small lake of glass or paper; boats; swan on 
island; bridge; build collection of houses for 
animals; a few animals on grass or in deer cages 
made of five-inch sticks. (Supplement with 
pictures.) 

2. Work in sand trays every day. (Smooth, 
dig, sift, etc.) 

3. Brush work or drawing. (Both groups 
daily.) 

4. Clay modeling. 

5. Paper cutting, folding, pasting, etc. 
Monday. — Group 1. Cutting green paper for 

grass; making a tree with green paper fringe 
fastened on a twig or splint ; Group 2. A sign 
"Keep off the grass" (explain when necessary 
to have one) ; a swing. 

Tuesday. — Group 1. Making more trees ; brooms 
by fringing manilla paper and fastening as before; 
folding many windows for windows of room or 
car; Group 2. Folding and pasting an engine. 

Wednesday. — Group 2. Folding train of cars 
on elevated road; Group 1. Making gate of park 
or of a car with splints ; 

Thursday. — Group 2. Making wagon or cage 
of paper, splints, and parquetry circles; Group 
1. Paper balls for stones or paper grass to fill 
wagons. 

Friday. — Group 1. Making paper bags for 



crackers; boats or balloons; Group 2. \ wagon 
from a box, or a cage with box and splints; 
benches, boats, etc. 

GAMES FOR FIRST WEEK.* 

IMITATIVE EXERCISES. 

1. One or more children run, walk, .skip around 
the ring; all imitate. 

2. Running in to the center and back to place. 

3. Swinging arms (All). Play push a swing 
(All). 

4. Play drive a horse. (Use reins.) 

5. Represent trees in the park; birds. 

6. Two tall children join hands to make a 
bridge; little ones run under. 

7. Ball games. (Roll — bomice.) 
S. Sense games. (Hide the ball.) 
9. Finger plays. 

Note. — One of the public kindergartners in New 
York City was needed to assist in registration during 
the first days. She set the older children who had 
been in the kindergarten before to work to make a 
park for the new-comers, and they entertained the 
httle ones happily without help from the kindergartner. 
Results were crude and simple, but everyone was 
happy. 

There is a tendency to do too little during the first 
days. The play spirit should be uppermost and 
formality should be introduced gradually. If possi- 
ble during the first few days let the children play in 
small groups as: Group 1. Play ball. Group 2. 
Play in the sand. Group 3. Draw on the black- 
boards. Group 4. Play with the doll and other toys. 
Change the groups during the morning. Let the 
children who cry go home if possible; they need to 
learn how quickly they can reach home; they will 
return happily the next day. Warn guardians not 
to frighten them but to bring them back, with a 
promise to return if they are timid. 



they "make a park," or they may play "go to the park" when it is finished. They should be encouraged to tell 
what they see in the park that the older children have made. While waiting they may have the individual sand 
trays on the tables. 

3. Let the children suggest what they wi.sh to make, and how to make it as far as possible. The objects sug- 
gested need not be confined to the day mentioned. The divisions are indicated merely as a guide to young kinder- 
gartner.s. If the work is made too formal at first, the children will be repressed, and it will take the kindergartner 
much longer to study their individual characteri.stics. Let the children be active from the first. 

*L If various simple motions are imitated during the first week and accompanied by descriptive rhymes 
spoken only by the kindergarten, the children will be prepared to enter upon more complete games later on. 

2. In both handwork and games, a greater variety of work has been suggested than may be required. In kin- 
dergartens where the majority of children are over five years of age more work may be attempted. 



PLATE Vni. 




LESS MATHEMATICS IN THE USE OF KINDERGARTEN xMATERIALS. 



KiNDERGARTNERS agree upon the views pre- 
sented in many of the paragraphs of the creed 
in the preface of this edition. The creed omits 
the usual fixed order in enumerating kindergarten 
gifts and occupations depending upon their 
mathematical relations. Upon this omission kin- 
dergartners disagree. 

There is indicated in the seventh paragraph of 
the creed a simple and in the view of many, a 
natural way of regarding kindergarten materials, 
an enumeration not in serial order. This state- 
ment is as follows: "The most important of the 
materials indicated by Froebel are balls, build- 
ing blocks, sand, clay, paper, scissors and draw- 
ing materials, Constructive play with these 
or other plastic materials should follow a few 
simple industries and such play should develop 
gradually into work." 

Usually the list of kindergarten playthings 
is given in mathematical order, namely from 
solid to point in the gifts and from point to solid 
in the occupations, as presented by Froebel in 
"Education by Development. Chapter XI." 
This analysis and synthesis of the materials of the 
kindergarten, so often quoted in the past, is re- 
garded now by many as "logical but not psy- 
chological," that is, while it is most satisfying 
as a classification to an adult mind, it has no 
meaning to the child, and should have little bear- 
ing in deciding the method of procedure in intro- 
ducing the material to a little child. 

Balls and blocks, all agree, should naturally 
lead the way, but even this order may be re- 
versed. A superintendent told me that on one 
occasion, a young kindergartner stood nonplussed, 
actually unwilling to begin because the first gift 
had not arrived. This is making too much even 
of the ball. AMth children of kindergarten age 
almost any material may be at any time utilized, 
if necessary, in a simple fashion. It is these ex- 
treme views regarding the sequence and mathe- 
matical relations of the gifts that have often 
thrown discredit upon the kindergarten method. 



There are kindergartners who believe that they 
would be doing the child's mind an injury if the 
Third Gift of eight small cubes were presented 
before the Second Gift, which contains an un- 
divided sphere, cube and cylinder. They forget 
the fact that Froebel presents the first and second 
gifts as nursery playthings for the first and second 
years of the child's life. 

It is true that pleasing and instructive ways 
have been evolved of using these first gifts even 
in the fourth and fifth years of the child's life 
which all kindergartners heartily approve. Such 
plays are described in this book later on. The 
difference is that many now deem it unessential 
to establish a mathematical relation between 
the gifts. They believe that what is necessary 
for the child to learn should come first through 
play and use. 

If a relationship between the solid cube and the 
divided cube composed of eight small cubes must 
be established and the dissection of the cube ex- 
plained to the little ones, should it not be done 
after a little experimental building in a playful 
way rather than as an initial step? It seems more 
childlike so to do. 

The Third Gift on the very first day in th3 
kindergarten is often the best plaything to keep 
children happily active. Usually young kinder- 
gartners feel much relieved when they realize 
that this break in the fixed order is deemed ad- 
missible. It opens their minds to a more natural 
use of the gifts as a series of building blocks. 

The materials of the kindergarten should be 
considered in their entirety and drawn upon \\'ith 
discretion as means to arouse activity, or if 
activity is already aroused as channels for its out- 
let or expression. They should be regarded as 
means to secure some expression of the many 
images formed and forming in the mind of the 
child. Such images have been created by home 
and other every-day experiences, or by stories 
and conversations, walks and excursions with the 
kindergartner. 

17 



18 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



New objectf? in the kindergarten room, pictures 
and drawings must also he considered as provok- 
ing images of less familiar things and as incentives 
to action. 

A ball in\'ites a child to play. It says to the 
child, "Come, throw me, roll me, run after me, 
toss me, catch me, bounce me." Blocks say to 
the child, "Come, pile us up; tumble us down; 
push us along; make a house; a barn, a fence; 
count us; see how many you have." 

Sand, a favorite material, calls loudly to the 
little ones, "Come, dig, push me, smooth me, 
pile me up, make a pile, make two piles, sift me 
through your fingers, make holes, make tracks, 
make cakes, make gardens." 

Thus used at the very start these well-chosen 
materials develop the constructive imagination. 
It is to this power of the mind that many kinder- 
gartners are appealing in these days, rather than 
to the abstractions of form, position and direc- 
tion. That these abstractions have in the past 
been overemphasized in dictation lessons is 
the opinion of many, while others continue such 
lessons. Form and direction may be mentioned 
incidentally, playfully, and usually in relation 
to use in construction. For example, "I am 
afraid your bridge may tumble down," will direct 
attention to the need of upright supports and im- 
press the exact vertical position with sufficient 
accuracy for the child's welfare. Perfect accuracy 
is overstimulating and nervous work for a young 
child. 

In constructing a see-saw or a swing, or even 
in drawing either object on the blackboard, the 
vertical, horizontal and oblique lines are made 
plain in actual use. They need not be named in 
mathematical terms. The see-saw has an up- 
right sujiport. The seat board is now horizontal, 
now oblique. So it is with the swing. 

The common language of every day life is more 
suitable for the child, namely, standing, lying down, 
leaning. These terms should be used naturally 
in talking about the object after it has been made 
or drawn. 

A few counting lessons are quite reasonable. 



Children love to count their toys, and counting 
is the best basis for number work. A few simple 
problems are also admissible, as build a post four 
blocks high, five, six, seven, eight blocks high. 
Make two posts. How high is each one? 

While Froebel's geometrical series of gifts, 
as shown in the plates of this book, will always 
be of great interest as the foundation of a re- 
markable effort of a great educator to organize 
play material for childish activity, many educators 
now consider the series as such of historic rather 
than of practical value. Others, as already stated, 
still believe that not one link of this logical 
chain may be dropped without detriment to the 
child and to the integrity of the kindergarten. 

I have ad-vised the publishers to retain the 
older plates* both for their historic interest to 
students who wish to accjuaint themselves with 
the old as well as the new in kindergarten methods, 
and as a convenience to those still adhering to the 
logical series of gifts and occupations. 

One of the fundamental methods of Froebel, as 
of all good teachers, is the method of comparison. 
Hence I do not hesitate to retain the plates,* 
although personally I do not advise following 
them in detail. We must profit by comparison 
of views. 

Froebel's teachings of the relation of past, 
present and future indicate him to be an evolu- 
tionist and not a revolutionist. We follow his 
example closely in this respect. 

Training teachers desiring to study this subject 
more fully are referred to three able article^': 
1. Some Conservative and Progressive Phases 
of Kindergarten Education, by Patty Smith 
Hill, Sixth Year Book of the National Society 
for the Scientific Study of Education, Pub. 
at Chicago University. 2. "The Kindergarten 
Gifts," by Harriette Melissa Mills, Teachers 
College Record, Nov., 1904. 3. The Kinder- 
garten Number of Teachers College Record, Nov. 
1909, by Dr. John A. MacVannel and Patty S. 
Hill. These are three of the most important 
views yet published by writers of the progressive 
type. 



* The plates here mentioned are to be found in Part II. 
of Part I, but not all in Part II. 



I heartily approve all the work presented in the plates 



PLATE IX. 




THE COMPARATIVE VALUE OF FORMS OF LIFE, BEAUTY AND 

KNOWLEDGE. 



KiNDERGARTNERS who are in a transitional 
state of mind between the old and the new often 
find it difficult to know how to modify their 
procedure in order to secure the good of the new 
without setting aside much of their present 
method. 

"Spend most of your time on life forms and j-ou 
will vivify your work without danger of upsetting 
your kindergarten methods" is about the best 
advice that can be offered. The life forms are 
the connection between the old and the new, 
that is to say, all kindergartners approve them. 

Glancing rapidlj' through the older plates of 
this book, the excessive predominance of geomet- 
rical forms which are the "forms of knowledge" 
and also of symmetrical designs which are the 
"forms of beauty" of the kindergarten, must 
strike the eye of any student. 

A careful study of Froebel's own method of 
interesting the child in such forms will be found 
in Pedagogics of the Kindergarten, page 132. 
Froebel there links the forms of beauty with forms 
of life by comparing them with stars, wreaths 
and flowers. In rhymes he calls them dancing 
forms. By introducing such terms frecjuentlj' 
and also by a strong tendency to playfulness, 
Froebel shows that he realized the child's need 
of an interpreter of the form of beauty in the life 
forms. An interesting address upon this subject 
was gi\'en in 1908 before the kindergarten de- 
partment of the National Educational Associa- 
tion entitled "The Use and Abuse of Design in 
the Kindergarten" by Miss Mae B. Higgons, 
and ably discussed by Mrs. Alice H. Putnam.* 

The reason then for urging the value of forms 
of life, which mean forms of nature and forms 
of familiar objects of every-day life, becomes 
apparent. 

The children taught by Froebel spent much 
time out-of-doors, and hence forms of nature 



were not so likely to be neglected as they have 
been in cities. 

It is certainly essential that the child's eye 
should not be constantly impres.sed with hne, 
angle, square, oblong, circle, semi-circle, triangle, 
pentagon, hexagon, octagon, or even sphere, 
cube and cylinder. This we have considered in 
another chapter. 

Here we mention the danger of overdoing 
these forms under the head of " forms of Knowl- 
edge " as they were denominated by Froebel. 
Both geometrical and symmetrical forms have 
been made to appear and reappear in every gift 
and occupation, until geometry instead of life 
seemed to be accepted as the kindergarten end 
and aim. We are now urging in their stead the 
frequent reproduction in drawing, molding, 
painting and cutting of such life forms as fruits, 
flowers, vegetables, leaves, birds, butterflies, 
chickens, kittens, the lamb, the squirrel, the 
rabbit and other animals, not forgetting nor for- 
bidding the human form which children love so 
well to attempt. (See Plate XIV showing dolls 
cut from children's drawings and Plat« No. 
IX, showing free cutting of animals seen at the 
Zoo. It should be stated that these results 
were obtained because the kindergarten was in 
the vicinity of the Zoological Gardens. The same 
plate shows the reproduction of the kinder- 
garten bunny by twelve children who loved 
their own bunny.) 

The familiar forms of home life and of known 
industries, of toys and playthings, of tools and 
dishes, should receive more attention than geomet- 
rical forms. The house and any of its furnishings 
are a never-failing source of interest to draw, to 
paint, to build, to mold, to cut and to make. 
Some of these household forms lend themselves 
best to one occupation and some to another, as 
dishes to modeling. 



* Reports of these addresses will be found in the Kg. Review of 1908. 



19 



20 



GOLDEX JUBILEE EDITION. 



Variations of tlie window, an object so dear 
especially to city children, may appear and re- 
appear in cutting, folding, mounting and draw- 
ing. A series, of such exercises based on the 
window, shows various kinds of curtains and 
shades, window plants and even supposed views 
beyond the window. The attractive medium 
of translucent-colored paper maybe one of the 
materials employed. In such exercises, espe- 
cially in those on the house, the door and the 
window, all the practice needed in vertical, 
horizontal and oblique lines, in exact right angles 
or corners, in squares and oblongs, is given through 
the making of a well-known and ever-pleasing 
form of life. See Plate XVI. 

All these geometrical forms of knowledge are 
hidden, as it were, in the forms of life, and should 
be generalized in later school years. They should 



not be forced out of their hiding places any more 
than the bony frame work of our bodies should 
be studied by children. 

The skeleton of the human body is beautiful, 
wonderfully so to those able to bear it, but the 
study of anatomy comes late. So should that 
of typical forms. They are skeletons merely. 
They are not now being introduced before the 
fourth and fifth years of school life by our 
leaders in art work. They are not drawn even 
in those years in many of the best courses except 
as they appear in toys and in other common 
objects. 

Cubes, spheres and cylinders should be con- 
sidered as playthings when used in the kinder- 
garten and never described in words or made 
centers for classification. (See present editor's 
notes on each Gift in Part II.) 



PLATE X. 




STAGES OF PK(_ti;P.ESS IX 1)KA\VL\(,. 



DRAWING IN THE KINDERG.IRTEN AND THE NURSERY. 



There is no kindergarten occupation that has 
been more generally abandoned than drawing on 
a network of lines. Such drawing has been 
found to belong to a later period of develop- 
ment and relates itself to the mechanical draw- 
ing of the school. 

Steadying eye and hand to work together in 
drawing lines over other lines is nervous work 
for a child under eight or even nine years of age. 
It is also injurious to the eye of the young child 
and tends to produce near-sightedness, as does 
too early use of the reading book. 

Kindergartners for a long time apparently 
cjuite overlooked Froebel's recognition and ap- 
preciation of the way a little child naturally 
inclines to free illustrative drawing to express him- 
self in a creative occupation. Froebel gives a 
number of ver}' simple, practical suggestions for 
drawing in the nursery which mothers as well as 
kindergartners should observe carefully. 

These suggestions are found in the commentary 
on "The Little Artist'' and in the second chapter 
of "The Education of Man." 

In the commentary Froebel advises mothers 
to make outlines in the air and in sand as well as 
on slate or paper, the child gradually imitating. 
He says, " Drawing in the air being a decided 
movement gives pleasure to your little child." 

In the rhymes and accompanying picture of 
"The Little Artist," Froebel suggests the illustra- 
tive drawing, now generally accepted, as the 
appropriate drawing for the kindergarten. He 
says: 

"The things a child can make 
May crude and worthless be; 
It is his impulse to create 
Should gladden thee." 

In "The Education of Man," Froebel notes 
the joy of a little child who, having found a pebble, 
or piece of slate or chalk, delights in drawing it 
over any smooth surface just to .see the color 
and the lines appear. At first, the rubbing, the 
movement interests him, than the change on the 



surface of the slate or other substance attracts 
his attention. The child rejoices in his own power 
to create the change. 

As many readers of this book may not have 
"The Education of Man" at hand, we will quote 
at length from it, for the subject is a \'ital one, 
and is so treated by Froebel. 

",\ child has found a pebble; in order to determine 
by experiment its properties, he has rubbed it on 
a board near by, and has discovered its property 
of imparting color. It is a fragment of lime, clay, 
red stone or chalk. 

"See how he delights in the newly discovered 
property, and how busily he makes use of it! Soon 
the whole surface of the board is changed. 

"At first the boy takes delight in the new prop- 
erty. Then in the changed surface — now red, new 
white, now black, now brown — but soon he begins 
to find pleasure in the winding, straight, curved 
and other forms that appear. These linear phenom- 
ena direct his attention to the hnear properties of 
surrounding objects. Now the head becomes a 
circle, and now the circular line represents the head, 
the elliptical curve connected with it represents the 
body; arms and legs appear as straight or broken 
lines and these again represent arms and legs; the 
fingers he sees are straight lines meeting in the com- 
mon point and lines so connected are, for the busy 
child again hands and fingers; the eyes he sees as 
dots and which again represent eyes; and thus a 
new world opens ■within and without. For wluit 
man tries to represent or do he begins to understand. 

"The perception and representation of Unear 
relations opens to the child on the threshold of boy- 
hood a new world in various directions. Not only 
can he represent the outer world in reduced measure 
and thus comprehend it more easily with his eyes; 
not only can he reproduce outwardly what lives in 
his mind as a reminiscence or new association, but 
the knowledge of a wholly new invisible world, the 
world of forces, has its tenderest rootlets right here. 

"The ball that is rolling, or has been rolled, the 
stone that has been thrown or fallen, the water that 
has been dammed and conducted into many branch- 
ing ditches — all these have taught the child that the 
effect of a force, in its individual manifestations 
is always in the direction of a hne. 

21 



22 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



"Then the representation of objects by lines soon 
leads the child to the perception and representation 
of tlie direction in which a force acts. 

" Here flows a brook " and, saying this, the child 
makes a mark indicating the course of the brook. 
The child has drawn Unes signifying to him a tree. 
" Here grows another branch, and here still another," 
and as he speaks, he draws forth from the tree, as 
it were, the lines indicating its branches. 

"Very significantly says the child, "Here comes 
a bird flying," and draws the direction of the sup- 
posed flight, a winding line. 

" Give the child a bit of chalk or the Uke, and soon 
a new creation will stand before him and you. 

" Let the father, too, in a few lines sketch a man, 
a horse. This man of lines, this horse of lines, will 
give the cliild more joy than an actual man, an actual 
horse would do. 

"Mothers and attendents, would you know how 
to lead the child in this matter. See and observe 
the child; he will teach you what to do. 

" The attentive mother, the thoughtful father, the 
sympathetic family, without any of them having 
ever drawn, without an artist among them, may 
lead the child growing into boyhood to draw with 
tolerable accuracy a straight line, a diagonal or 
diameter, mirrors, windows and many other things, 
with some degree of resemblance." 

Froebel proceeds to speak of the value of con- 
necting spoken language with drawing. This is 
a valuable and practical suggestion too often 
neglected in kindergartens. There is no work 
that children do about which they will talk more 
freely than their drawing.s. The drawing lesson 
becomes an excellent opportunity for language 
work. 

We have quoted Froebel thus at length to show 
clearly that present day drawing in the kinder- 
garten is thoroughly Froebelian. 

There is no more important kindergarten 
occupation than drawing. It should be a daily 
exercise, not an occasional one, as it now is in 
many kindergartens. There is no occupation 
in which a child can more readily exercise creative 
activity. 

Prof. Earl Barnes says, "Any thoughtful 
observer who watches a child's drawing from the 
time he is two until he is six, must be deeply 
impressed with the great aid it furnishes to all of 
his processes of thought." 

In speaking of this free, illustrative drawing, 
Mr. Henry T. Bailey says: "This type of drawing 
opens the realm of pictorial art to the young 
child more directly than any other type of draw- 
ing yet discovered." 



Many children have pas.sed the " scribbling age' ' 
in drawing before entering the kindergarten, others 
have never been permitted to draw at home. 
Naturally then, there must be a great difference 
in dealing with individual children in the kinder- 
garten. 

The kindergartner's first duty is to place 
drawing materials before each child and observe 
what each child attempts to do. It has been 
found very interesting to retain the first set of 
papers for comparison with later drawings. 

Some children who have never drawn seem 
afraid to begin. They should be furnished daily 
with materials, but left alone for a time and en- 
couraged to watch their neighbors draw. 

Those children who are still in "The scribbling 
age" will be helped by practice drawing. Try 
to concentrate the child's attention upon a sweep- 
ing movement acro.ss the whole paper in an 
endeavor to color it. Indeed here is an opportunity 
to adopt Froebel's suggestion of practicing move- 
ment in the air before touching the paper. Chil- 
dren love to "make believe," and drawing in the 
air is "make believe drawing." 

Short, thick pieces of crayon should be used and 
drawn across the entire paper. Using the side 
of a small piece of crayon is a good device to 
prevent scribbling. It will aid in coloring the 
paper more evenly. 

A paper colored with green crayon may be 
called a grass plot and an appropriate picture 
mounted upon it, as a lamb, a cow, chickens or 
children playing. (See Plate XI.) The sheet 
colored blue may be called the sky and a bird 
or two mounted, or it may be taken to be water, 
a slit cut and a folded ship inserted so that it 
will stand and slide backward and forward in 
the slit. 

Again, the children may fringe a piece of paper 
after they have colored it. They may cut it into 
strips and use it for chains. 

Considerable practice in this coloring removes 
the tendency to scribble or to make tiny strokes 
with a cramped movement. It gives freedom 
of movement. 

Nothing should be said to the child of practice. 
To the kindergartner, such work is merely a de- 
vice to free the hand and secure long lines. To 
the child, it must be a real piece of work. The 
child is pleased to see the paper he has colored 
used in the different ways indicated. 

By continuing to practice drawing in the air 
and in sand, even the youngest children will soon 



PLATE XI. 




PRACTICE AND OBJECT DKAWIXG. 



THE KINDERGARTEN OF TO-DAY. 



23 



be able to draw simple objects on paper, as a 
nest, a see-saw, a swing, a flag. 

These objects, it will be observed, give practice 
in all directions, vertical, horizontal and oblicjue. 

The nest gives a winding line, curving over and 
over itself. The children will delight to put 
colored eggs in the nest, and the kindergartner, 
if not the child, may draw a bird hovering over it. 

When the nest is well drawn on paper, a slit 
may be cut and a bird slipped in over the eggs. 
The bird may have been cut to outline and col- 
ored by the child. (See Plate XVIII.) 

The following series of practice lessons was 
worked out some years ago by Miss Lileon Claxton 
and has proved very suggestive and helpful to 
many young kindergartners. The drawings were 
made on bogus paper with heavy crayons nearly 
as thick as an adult's finger, and after drawing, an 
appropriate picture was mounted upon the paper. 

We give the list of drawings and mounted 
pictures: 

Practice Drawings. Mounts. 

1. Water, blue crayon. A ship. 

2. A see-saw, black. Children. 

3. Pond and bush, blue, green. Ducks. 

4. Green hill. Jack and Jill. 

5. White hill. A sled. 

6. Grass. Cows. 

7. A tent, white. Soldiers. 

8. A cage. A lion. 

9. A fence. Horse and colt. 
10. Chicken-coop. Hen and chicks. 

Note. — It will be observed that the practice 
in the first series is on straight lines, and that the 
three positions indicating vertical, horizontal 
and oblique are all present. 



11. 

12. 

13. 

14. 

15. 

16. 

17. 

18. 

19. 
sizes.) 

20. 
Paper 

21. 



Second Series, (curved lines.) 

A ball hanging. 

Three balls hanging. 

.\n apple. 

An orange. 

A pumpkin. 

Snowballs. 

The six balls of First Gift (colored in order.) 

Balloons (one, two, three and more). 

A snow-man (made of two balls of different 

A hammock swung between two posts. 
doll mounted. 
Pussy (back view). 



Note. — In the second series the practice is in 
mass mainly. The order is not fixed. Practice 
may be on straight and curved lines on alternate 
days. 

Before each lesson, practice the appropriate 
motion in the air as, in drawing a hill move the 
hand in a slanting direction. After finishing 
each drawing, let the children mount the picture 
suggested or draw freely, as, a child on each end 
of the see-saw. 

Coloring animals is a favorite occupation. (See 
Plate No. XVI.) It is also a kind of practice in 
mass drawing. 

There are outlines of famihar animals that may 
be secured in sets to color. They are rather 
smaller than it is best to use in the early lessons. 
Many kindergartners secure large patterns by 
tracing the animals found in good animal picture 
books. If such books are used daily in kinder- 
garten as they should be, the children will soon 
be familiar with animal forms and colors. They 
will delight in reproducing the colors of the book 
as nearly as they can match them \vith crayon 
or paint-box. 

The animals of the Henny Penny story after 
being colored and mounted make an interesting 
story chart or border for the blackboard. (See 
Plate No. XI.) 

A mother hen and her brood, a horse and colt, 
a cow and calf, mounted on appropriate back- 
grounds are pleasing and instructive. A fence 
may be drawn as if to shut the animals in the 
barnj-ard. 

The older group of children should be held to 
more careful work in coloring animals, for example, 
they may use several colored crayons and color 
the duck's feet and bill, the hen's comb and other 
details that demand closer observation and more 
careful strokes. The younger children should 
use one color only. 

With gray bogus paper, common white black- 
board crayon may be used to good advantage 
in coloring white animals, as a cat, a bunny, a 
goat, a sheep, a horse. 

With very young children, it has been found 
best to have the animals cut out before coloring. 
The older children may themselves cut out the 
animals to color. A little child is trammeled by 
attempting to keep within an outline but may 
sweep with good strokes to the very edge of the 
paper animal when it is cut out before coloring. 
This is important, as freedom and strength of 
movement is to be sought before accuracy. 



24 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



While such practice drawing may be given 
daily for a few weeks, an opijortunity should also 
be given daily for free illustrative drawing, which 
is to the child a language. 

" Show me on your drawing paper what you 
saw coming to kindergarten this morning on the 
street. I will come and guess what it was," 
says the kindergartner. 

"Make a picture of one of your playthings." 
"Draw your httle dolly in her carriage." "Draw 
Jack and Jill or Little Boy Blue." 

As Prof. Earl Barnes says in one of his excellent 
commentaries* on children's drawings, "Those 
who object to having a young child use drawing 
freely as a language, generally base their objection 
on the fact that the child cannot draw. But that 
is one of the reasons why he can use drawing to 
such good advantage as a language. He cannot 
draw, but he does not know that he cannot, and 
the symbolizing tendency makes him free to 
attempt even the sky and God. 

"Children under eight, if not already spoiled 
by bad teaching, can be depended upon to draw 
of their own volition, or on refiuest, anything on 
the earth, or in the heavens above." 

While the children draw, it is the kinder- 
gartner's opportunity to study them, to pass 
from one to another cjuietly, asking a few personal 
questions of each child, and encouraging those 
who are backward by drawing for them. 

Advantage should be taken of the instinct 
of imitation in this occupation as in all others. 
Imitation is one of the most valuable of the mind's 
methods of learning. Formerly teachers did not 
fully realize this value and often forbade children 
to imitate, thinking it prevented creative work. 

It is true that we should not encourage the child 
to imitate the product, but rather the method 
of working. Dr. John Dewey says, "The child 
ma}- learn much from the incidental and mainly 
unconscious imitation of the methods used by 
others. There is all the difference in the world, 
educationally, between that unconscious assimila- 
tion of the mode of handling used by another 
better-trained person, and the mechanical and set 
copying of that person's work. 

" One imitates the process and tends to set free 
I he child's powers; the other imitates the prod- 
uct and tends towards slavishness." 

Prof. Sully says : "The first attempts to manage 



the pencil are commonly aided by the mother, 
who, moreover, is wont to present a model draw- 
ing and what is even more important at this 
early stage, to supply model viovonents of the 
arm and hand. In a strict sense, of course, no 
child's drawing is absolutely spontaneous and 
independent of external stimulus and guidance." 
(Studies of Childhood. Sully— Chap. The Little 
Draughtsman.) 

At the close of a drawing exercise, it is often 
advisable to request several children to tell what 
they have drawn. Indeed it is well nigh impossible 
to keep the children from doing so if there is anj- 
naturalness in discipline. Children will even 
rise out of their seats and act out their drawings 
or add to them by means of gesture and word 
what they find it difficult to express in lines. 

The kindergartner may occasionalh' select two 
or three good drawings to hold up or place where 
all can see them for the rest of the day. Chil- 
dren's work should seldom lae kept up longer. 

In commenting, it is better to say "I like the 
picture which you have made," rather than to 
praise the child himself for drawing it. 

In later years this inspection of drawings at 
the close of a lesson should take the form of class 
criticism, but very little criticism should be given 
or required of kindergarten children. A question 
or suggestion given occasionally will prove 
sufficient in the way of criticism at this early age, 
as, "How many legs has your horse? Where are 
his ears? Is he running or standing still? Perhaps 
you can make him run. Where is the train going? 
* Is it on the track? Where are the wheels? This 
boy is so big, I am afraid he cannot get into his 
wagon." 

By these suggestive remarks, the children grad- 
ually take hints that lead to improvement. They 
will begin to represent action and motion as well 
as form, and will also consider proportion. 

^'ery little suggestion or criticism should be 
given at first in regard to placing a drawing. 
The child cannot think of many points at once. 
Before drawing, however, there may at times be 
a little conversation as to whether it will be better 
to have the long edges of the paper front and 
back or from side to side. Occasionally prepare 
the paper in accordance with the specific object to 
be drawn as a long narrow piece of paper for a 
flower having a long stem. 



Art 



*See Barnes' " Studies in Education.' 
Kg. Mag., April and May, 1901. 



Vol. II. No. S. Also Barnes' "Child Study in relation to Elementary 



I'LATE Xir. 




ILLUSTRATIVE DRAWIXG. 



THE KINDERGARTEN OF TO-DAY, 



25 



All sorts of incongruities must be expected and 
accepted in drawings made by children of kinder- 
garten age, remembering that too much sugges- 
tion and too mucli criticism will hinder spontaneity 
by making the child self-conscious. Yet the 
thoughtful kindergartner is always endeavoring 
to lift the child to the "next higher level," not 
allowing him to keep on too long repeating him- 
self on the lower level. 

A device which has been found effective both 
in the kindergarten and in primary grades to 
impro^■e the child's free illustrative drawing is as 
follows : 

Select a single object which is mentioned in a 
story; show it to the children; draw it for them 
on the blackboard in several positions. 

Erase the drawings, place the object where it 
can be seen by all who are to draw it. 

Ask the children to make a picture that looks 
just like it. 

"Play you have a camera. Now take the 
picture." 

Later in the week, when you have told the story, 
and the children are "telling it" in pictures, it 
wiU be found that the drawing of the one object 
will have been the means of improving the 
illustration of the whole story. For example, 
before asking the children to draw the Jack and 
Jill story, show a little pail. Draw the pail as 
a single object. Before the story of "Little Boy 
Blue," draw a horn. 

After practicing drawing single animals, as a 
squirrel, a bunny, a fish, a bird, stories may be 
told of each animal and the freedom with which 
the animal is dra-«-n will set up the whole scene 
produced by the children. It is a device well 
worth trying. 

Some kindergartners wonder why children in 
other kindergartens draw so much better than 
theirs. It is because of just such simple devices 
which are not appreciated by many, but which 
thoughtful, creative minds invent from day to 
day. 

The freedom with which a kindergartner draws 
before her class is also a most important factor, 
for it would seem that children imitate* so exactly 
at this age, that their drawings take on the very 
peculiarities and excellencies of those drawn 
before them. 

Dr. Henry Lukens, whose article upon Chil- 



dren's Drawings in the Pedagogical Seminary, 
Vol. IV. 1, attracted much attention some years 
ago, says, " I do not see why an artist should not 
make a series of such objects as children love to 
draw in simplified outlines, giving only characteris- 
tic touches. Finished, shaded, perspective draw- 
ings are not so likely to stimulate interest in 
little children." In speaking of illustrative draw- 
ings Dr. Lukens says: "All school work is too 
limited in opportunity for experience, productive 
and other forms of outgoing energy. Education 
tends, from its very nature, towards a pouring 
in, sensory process. Development can, however, 
only come from a growth on the motor or pro- 
ductive side. 

" Such an opportunity is afforded hy free draw- 
ing out of the head. Abundance of practice will 
certainly make vast improvements over the re- 
sults as now presented. 

" The chief things to aim at, I should think, 
would be : 

"1. To stimulate practice in and out of school. 

" 2. To aid the development by suggestio7is and 
by simplified outline drawings by good artists." 

Since Dr. Lukens wrote, mass drawing has 
become popular and it has been found that simple 
mass representations as in "The Noah's Ark 
Series," "The Hen and Chickens" the "Duck 
and Ducklings," now so extensively used in wall 
decorations, reappear to some extent in children's 
attempts both in brush work and in free cutting. 
The kindergarten children also imitate the mass 
drawings of older brothers and sisters seen at 
home. 

Good stationary work on the walls or the black- 
board is helpful, as impression tends to expression, 
but drawing while the child watches is the greater 
incentive. The child sees the way to begin and 
to proceed. He tends to imitate the movements. 

Very crude, ugly drawings should not be left 
long on the blackboard for they, too, impress 
themselves. Shades are sometimes attached to 
the blackboard and drawii down over the children's 
drawings to hide them from view rather than 
have them erased at once. The children should 
if possible draw on the blackboards daily for a 
few minutes to encourage large movements. 

The question now arises whether there should 
be any attempt at genuine object drawing in the 
kindergarten. 



* For very valuable suggestions on the use of imitation in drawing, consult an article by Prof. Walter Sargent in 
The Elementary School Teacher, Nov., 1909. 



26 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



As has already been stated, drawing is mainly 
a means of expression to the Httle child. He 
draws from within, from what he knows to be 
true of an object rather than how it appears. 

This makes real object drawing well-nigh im- 
possible. For example: An apple with a hat- 
pm stuck through it was given as a model to a 
large number of young children at six years of 
age. Ninety-seven per cent drew the whole 
length of the pin across the apple, although, of 
course, no one could see the pin but only the pro- 
truding ends. The whole pin was represented, 
not because the children saw it, but because they 
knew it to be there! 

Children in like manner draw an opacjue box 
or basket showing all that they know to be in it. 
Drawings of city kindergarten children show 
coal in little pieces, all the way to the bottom of 
a coal cart. (See Plate XV IL) 

Although the children are not yet old enough 
for exact object drawing, it is advisable once 
during the week to present a definite object as a 
model. 

If the object is small, as a leaf or a flower, one 
should be given to each child. Larger objects 
should be carefully placed in full sight, as a child's 
broom, a toy wagon, a doll, a spade, a rake. 

The objects chosen at first may well be flat, 
as a ladder, a fan, a flag, an envelope, a window. 

By calling attention to the object and having 
it in full sight, the children begin to improve, 
although anything like exact reproduction cannot 
be expected. If no object drawing is attempted, 
the child, who is apt to create symbols of things, 
will go on repeating these symbols until his horses, 
his trees, his men are all alike. 

Object drawing, or an attempt at it, will help 
the child improve on himself. "On our walk," 
says the kindergartner, "we must look at an oak 
tree and an elm tree and see if they are just alike. 
Then when you draw a tree, I will ask you what 
kind of a tree it is." 

The child must not be left too long in one stage, 
repeating and repeating himself. That is the 
action of an undeveloped mind. 

Self-imitation is valuable in its place, as when 
baby begins to pile blocks, he repeats and repeats 
and repeats the act, hundreds of times. It is, at 
a later age, a low order of progress. The kinder- 
gartner must watch for the " psychologic moment" 
to help the child lift himself a step higher. 

The selection of objects is important. They 
should be mainly toys and natural objects as 



fruits and vegetables, grasses and flowers in their 
season. 

The season of the year may naturally control 
the objects chosen for drawing as well as the stories 
to be illustrated. 

In the early fall, fall flowers, leaves, apples, 
grapes, peaches, and later the vegetables, the 
potatoes, the carrot, the beet, the red pepper, the 
pumpkin as Thanksgiving is approaching. Later 
— winter garments, as mittens, caps and muffs, 
sleds, will be pleasing subjects. 

Soon the Christmas tree and all its accompany- 
ing toy treasures will present fascinating objects 
to draw. Snowballs, snow men, snow hills and 
sleds, windows with snowy s lis, snowcarts and 
shovels should be drawn in mid-winter. 

In the springtime, flowers again come into the 
child's life and he makes brave attempts to show 
the pussy willow, the daffodil, the violet, the 
crocus, the tulip, the grasses. 

The Maypole drawings give fine practice in 
drawing lines at all angles and in all colors, and 
many children will attempt the dancing of the 
boys and girls around the pole. 

At all seasons men, women and children, dolls, 
houses, furniture, wagons, boats, trolleys, steam- 
cars, engines, ships, bridges, ladders, tools and 
toys afford an endless variety. 

It is surprising that many kiiidergartners do 
not seem to realize the special preparation nec- 
essary to .secure good results in drawing. That 
it is mainly free as far as the child is concerned, 
seems to mean that the kindergartner has nothing 
to do. This is a great mistake. The kinder- 
gartner must see ahead. She must have an ideal, 
a goal. 

She must study each individual child as he 
draws from day to day and note his progress or 
arrest of development. 

She must know who is in and who is beyond 
the scribbling age, or the cataloguing age, or 
the age of diagrams or conventional signs. She 
must consider her suggestions and questions 
carefully, judging the right one for each in- 
dividual. She should be improving all the time 
in blackboard drawing herself that she may make 
the best models and utilize the child's instinct of 
imitation. 

She must have good models at hand or know 
how to get them when needed. Often a child 
in the class will furnish the toy needed. She 
must have cjuick sympathy to interpret the 
childish view and to enter into the child's descrip- 



PLATE XIII. 




ILLUSTRATIVE DRAWIXOS— CITY LIFE. 



THE KINDERGARTEN OF TO-DAY. 



27 



tions of his crude attempts at representation. 
She must see more than the child and be able 
to interpret for him and suggest new ideas. She 
must choose stories to be illustrated wisely as well 
as objective models. She must consider, with 
care, the selection of materials. The right paper, 
the right size, the best crayon; all these details 
are hers for study. Each and everj' one 
of them will contribute to the progress of the 
work. 

An eminent educator says, " By recording 
images and thus holding them before the mind 
for consideration, drmcing becomes one of the most 
effective agencies in organizing a body of correct 
ideas or concepts on which all intelligent think- 
ing must finally rest." Is it not then well worth 
while to give marked attention to it? 

A most interesting and instructive scrap-book 
can be made by selecting the best of the children's 
drawings throughout the year. If the subjects 



have been well chosen, the seasons, the songs, the 
stories, the games, the excursions, the trades, 
animal and plant Hfe, home incidents, and those 
of the neighborhood, the general environment 
in which the child lives, the holida3^s, aU will be 
mirrored forth. Such a book surely reflects back 
to a kindergarten child the work of the year. 
It makes a review picture book. 

If a child's drawings are saved and about 
twenty or thirty selected, each one mounted 
carefully upon a larger sheet of durable paper, 
and all neatly fastened in book form, no better 
gift for the intelligent parent could be de\-ised 
at the close of the term. It will be a Uttle pano- 
rama to the child and to the parent, recalling 
songs and stories and many happy experiences 
in the kindergarten. 

Plates X to XIII illustrate the various phases 
of drawing which have been described in this 
chapter. 



THE OCCUPATION OF PAPER CUTTING. 



A number of the new plates in this book in- 
dicate how much more free cutting is being done 
in the l^indergarten of to-day than formerly. 
The plates in the older edition cover pages of 
cutting according to dictation upon a prepared 
geometrical form, especially the triangle. Hours 
upon hours have been spent by training classes 
in cutting and mounting forms of beauty com- 
posed of many tiny pieces of paper. 

Such work in paper cutting is almost wholly 
abandoned. The occupation of paper cutting 
has developed in freer channels and is invaluable 
because of its inexpensiveness as well as its 
excellence as a medium of e.xpression. 

Children love to cut with a pair of scissors, 
the familiar tool of the home. Usually they are 
denied the privilege because of the dangers attend- 
ing it. Even when blunt scissors are furnished 
in the home, there is the fear of cutting household 
articles or clothing. Sometimes a pretty curl 
disappears. Hence scissors, though so familiar 
a tool, are usually forbidden in the home to the 
young child. 

In kindergarten, however, blunt scissors, plenty 
of paper and the watchful eye of the kindergartner 
prevent catastrophes. 

We recommend blunt scissors five inches long. 
The smaller pairs sometimes furnished are not 
desirable. Bogus and manilla paper are the 
best materials, as they are crisp and take the 
scissors without bending. They are also in- 
expensive papers. 

The child enjoys the sound of the tool on this 
stiff paper. The paper chosen should not, how- 
ever, be very stiff or tough at first. 

The children if very young will enjoy cutting 
simply to cut. They enjoy the action without 
reference to results. 

Snipping is a good exercise for several lessons; 
the little pieces may be gathered and used to 
fill a pillow for dolly, or to make a load for a toy 
wagon. White snips may make a snow storm if 
it happens to be winter. 



Fringing follows snipping. Cutting strips of 
short lengths for chains is a simple exercise. 
After fringing paper, it may be converted into 
brooms, brushes, ])lumes, feathers, and later into 
towels or tablecloths of various sizes. 

Many periods may be given to these preliminary 
exercises if the little ones have had no previous 
experience in cutting at home. 

Cutting spirals from circles and squares gives 
a jjleasing result and is usually found an easy 
cutting lesson. Suspending such spirals over the 
radiator so that they will dance up and down 
pleases the children. 

Sometimes it is well to let the children simply 
experiment just to see what they can cut. They 
are often surprised at their own productions and 
name them from fancied resemblances. 

Power is also gained by cutting out their own 
free drawings. The children gradually discover 
that cutting is really drawing with the scissors. 
This seems to give confidence especially in illus- 
trative work. 

Next simple familiar forms may be suggested. 
It is even more important that they be familiar 
than simple, for the child must have the image 
well in mind if he is to reproduce it. 

Among the forms to be cut are dolls, dishes, 
houses, household furniture, as chairs, tables, 
beds; clothing, as aprons, dresses, trouser.s, 
stockings, shoes, hats, caps, mits; fruits and 
vegetables in their season; famihar animals; 
ships; tools of various workmen ; leaves; flowers, 
toys, etc. (See Plates XIV-XVI-XVII.) 

To secure good results, the children should 
frequently watch the kindergartner cut out a 
form before attempting it themselves. 

Cutting to the line, while try ng to the eye, 
may be used to some extent even in the kinder- 
garten. It prepares the way for cutting 
out scrap pictures and making scrap-books 
and is also necessary sometimes in construction 
work. 

Occasionally there should be cutting to the 

28 



PLATK XIV. 




THE KINDERGARTEN OF TO-DAY. 



29 



line or crease by dictation on the checkers of a 
square folded into sixteenths. 

Doubling the paper before cutting should not 
be allowed. The child cannot carry a half form 
in mind. It is better even in cutting dollies to 
discard the old method of doubling the paper. 
(See Plate XIV.) 

When, however, it is desirable to cut out animals 
that will stand, the paper may be doubled as in 
the case of the rocking-horse on Plate XIII 
In such a case the whole form is kept in mind. 

If cliil<lren are permitted to cut out their own 
free drawings, it often transpires that they cut 
out two or more united objects as a horse and 
his rider, or a wagon and horse, a ship on the 
water, a child and a toy. This gives the sugges- 
tion of cutting to illustrate a story instead of 



cutting a single object. Usually this advanced 
step is not reached in the kindergarten. It is 
a very interesting phase of cutting in the primary 
grades. (See Beckwith's "Story-telling with scis- 
sors.") 

Such a course in paper cutting as has been 
described leads directly to primary work. Paper 
cutting is one of the occupations illustrating the 
continuity between the kindergarten and the 
primary grades. The notes on various plates 
showing the children's work in paper cutting will 
further elucidate this favorite occupation. 

Kindergartners desiring to free themselves 
from traditional kindergarten occupations of 
the geometrical order, will do well to use this 
occupation frequently. (See Plates VHI-IX- 

xiv-x\T-xvn.) 



BRUSH WORK. 



Closely allied to drawing as means of expres- 
sion is brush work. The brush is "a tool offer- 
ing less resistance than many which we give the 
child, and therefore one by which he may more 
readily and forcefully express himself." 

Many of the suggestions given in the previous 
section on drawing may be applied in brush w-ork, 
but the medium of water color is one that needs 
separate treatment in several respects. 

There are teachers who claim that it is preferable 
to use the brush from the first with children in- 
stead of pencil or crayon. 

We see objects by their colors and surfaces and 
not by boundary lines, and the brush as it n^iturally 
spreads, gives at once mass or surface effects. 
A hard substance as pencil or crayon when moved 
across paper naturally produces lines while mass 
effects can only be secured by special effort. 

The practice drawing described in a preceding 
chapter, however, soon leads to coloring surfaces 
if soft crayon is used, and excellent crayons for 
the purpose are now obtainable. The sharp 
pencil is generally discarded for young children. 

It has usually been found more expedient to 
use crayons in large classes rather than the brush 
and water colors, owing to the increased tlifficulty 
of handling the latter. The expense also must 
often be considered, and it is decidedly greater 
in the use of the paint box. 

Children do, however, love to mix paints and 
they gain much knowledge of color by experimenta- 
tion with water and color cakes. The colors 
obtained are clearer and brighter. 

To prevent muddy colors with young children, 
it is best to give one color cake at a time on a 
small saucer. Excellent results may be secured 
by using three cakes for some time, red, yellow, 
and blue. If palettes are used it is well to place 
the si colors in the order of the spectrum, as the 
children are familiar with it from the use of the 
prism in playing with "Th^ light-bird." Good 
authosity advises us to omit black. 



The kindergartner should know well how to 
use the brush and should paint for the children. 
They will naturally imitate her movements and 
method of work. It is better for them to learn 
by imitation than to be burdened with detailed 
directions. 

The following ciuotation from " Primary Brush 
Work"* gives the correct method of handling 
the brush. "The brush should be held low down 
on the handle, that is far away from the point, 
and vertical, that is, perpendicular to the paper. 
All movement should be made by the arm, not 
by fingers or wrists, the brush keeping its per- 
pendicular relation to the p iper. The hand may 
be moved in the direction of the line before drawing. 
All strokes should be made by continuous and 
rather fiuiek movement, and should not be re- 
touched. In the early lessons it is almost nec- 
essary that the teacher paint many lines before 
the children. The actual painting by the chil- 
dren should consume but a very short time and 
malerials should be co lected immediately. If 
left in the hands of the children one minute too 
long, very good work will be ruined by retouching. 
The brushes should be thoroughly washed at the 
end of each lesson, both for the preservation of 
the brush and for satisfactory work in .succeeding 
lessons. They should never be wiped, but the 
water should be shaken from them and they left 
stanchng inverted in a tumbler or jar until dry 
before putting away. The palettes should be 
cleaned before putting away with cloth or sponge. 
The water-cup, after being emptied, should also 
be wiped dry by the children. 

At best, considerable time will be necessarily 
consumed in distributing and collecting material, 
but by order and system many minutes and all 
confusion will be saved. The careful handling 
of the materials is a lesson in itself, the time is 
not wasted." 

If a kindergarten is divided into groups, as 
described in the time schedule, the number of 



*An article on " Primary Brush Work," by Mi.ss Jessie J. Kellogg. New York Teacher's Magazine, Jan., 1900. 

30 



PLATJ': XV. 




BRUfciH WORK. 



THE KINDERGARTEN OF TO-DAY. 



31 



brushes and palettes required will be few and the 
difficulties of handling material greatly lessened. 
Not more than ten or twelve children need ever 
paint together. 

It may be well here to add a practical suggestion 
in case of accident. Provide each child with a 
piece of blotting paper. On this paper wet 
fingers may be rubbed and if any spots drop from 
the brush on the table, the child will soon learn 
how to take them up with the blotter. 

Some experiencetl kindergartners recommend 
the introduction of the brush later in the term 
after considerable crayoning has been done, and 
with the advanced group only. 

An excellent preparatory exercise is painting 
on the blackboard with bru.sh and water. 

Practice in sweeping the brush across the paper 
either \'ertically or horizontally to make wide 
or narrow ribbons of different colors leads to a 
careful handling of the brush and prevents 
"scribbling." Fences may next be painted. 
(See Plate XV.) 

Painting the May-pole gives practice in slant- 
ing lines. Such exercises may be repeated several 
times, using different colors. 

Washes of one color may represent the blue 
sky, the green grass, the brown earth. These 
washes may be used as backgrounds or fringed 
or made into lanterns by folding or cutting on 
some later day. 

Animals may be colored as described under 
drawing. 

Claj' balls, dishes, fruits, vegetables and clay 
beads may be colored. Such painting on clay 
follows the work of primitive people and is very 
pleasing to the children. 

Exercises may follow of a different kind by 
attempting to draw grasses and stems upward 
and tapering. 

Broader leaves may be attempted by spreading 
the brush in imitation of the kindergartner. 
During the Hudson-Fulton celebration in New 
York city, the children enjoyed painting feathers 
for Indian head dresses. 

A flower pot, a window-box, the aquarium and 
colored tovs make good studies in color. In the 
fall, fruits and vegetables and fall flowers are 
objects often chosen for the painting lessons. 

In the springtime the green grass, the blue 
sky and any spring flowers are the chosen objects, 
daffodils and tulips being favorites. 

No attempt should be made to blend colors 
for some time, but after practice in the use of 



one color, two or more colors may be used as in 
painting the radish, the onion, the turnip, the 
apple, the strawberry and the cherry. 

A little practice in painting " blots " by carefully 
pressing one side of the brush on the paper is 
often given. The blot re.sembles a flower petal 
and by turning the brush in different directions 
four or five times, a simple flower appears. Such 
work is mechanical and should not be carried 
far. It trains the child to handle the brush 
carefully. Pretty borders may be made of these 
blots and other simple designs. 

Children should be allowed to express their 
thoughts in free illustrative brush work. A 
perfect riot of color may appear, but it is a prim- 
itive love of color and should be tolerated for a 
time. Little Black Sambo and all his bright 
garments will be painted with delight. The 
rainbow bands are also enjoved but must be made 
under directions. 

A bibliography on Drawing and Color work 
compiled and issued by the Kindergarten Union 
of New York city and vicinity refers kinder- 
gartners to several helpful books and articles. 
I quote a few: 

Color in the Kindergarten. Milton Bradley. 

With Brush and Pen. .lames Hall. 

Brush work for Kindergarten and Primary. 
-Ella Goodwin Lunt. 

The Little Artist. Marion Mackenzie. Mil- 
ton Bradley. 

Pose-drawing with Brush and Ink. Irene 
Weir. 

Art in the Kindergarten. Henry T. Bailey. 
Kg. Rev., Ap., '99. 

The Teaching of Color. Earl Barnes. Kg. 
Mag., Feb., '96. 

A Child's Paint-box. Constance Mackenzie 
Durham. Kg. Rev., Jan., '99. 

Kindergartners will find it helpful to examine 
the more recent files of these magazines. 

Articles of much value will be found in the 
Year books of the Supervisors of the Manual Arts, 
which are now to be found in many public libraries. 
Consult years 1903 and 1904 for articles by Dr. 
James P. Haney and Miss Julia C. Cremins. 

"School Drawing — a real correlation," by 
Fred. H. Daniels, recently published by Milton 
Bradley Co., should be consulted not only for 
its valuable hints on drawing, but primarily 
for its admirable plates showing sand-picture 
scenes. 



CHOICE OF COLOR. 



Standard colors as well as typical forms are 
at times unwisely forced upon the eye of the 
kindergarten child. The use of strong colors 
is essential in early years, but all kindergarten 
supplies in paper and worsted need not match 
the balls of the First Gift! Tints, shades, hues, 
broken colors are also desirable and should be 
used from the first. They are not to be classified 
in any way. Classifying color should not be 
forced any more than classifj-ing forms. It 
belongs to a later stage of development. 

The child loves strong color. Children should 
revel in reds and yellows; at the same time the 
kindergartner should not forget that nature is 
sparing of brilliant colors. The rainbow is rare. 
Rich, strong colors come at smiset, but they are 
fleeting. 

In the green grass the eye lights happily upon 
a bright yellow dandelion or buttercup, occasionally 
a very full field of them, but more green than 
yellow is visible. Red roses may bloom in 
abundance after long waiting and watching for 
the buds, but how soon the red rose leaves fall 
and the green leaves remain! Again nature 
invites the children to watch for the red rose 
berries. 

The child sees a wide expanse of heavenly blue, 
not standard blue, but sky blue in all its delicate 
tints, which soon soften to grays. The dainty 
white clouds break the vast extent of blue. 
Brilliant colors come in the autumn, but there 
are more browns than reds and they are soon gone. 

We should imitate nature by being content 
with backgrounds of grays and browns and greens. 
The children will not so much notice such colors 
as feel their cjuieting influence. Reds and yellows 
are exciting. 

By no means force strong colors out of the 
kindergarten and lower primary grades, neither 
depend upon them solely. 

There should be a marked toning down as the 
children advance into the sixth, seventh and 
eighth years of school life. Too great refinement 



of tones is not suitable in the kindergarten stamp- 
ing the work as unchildlike. 

Gray rubber balls should be introduced, not 
only for color, but for hvgienic reasons. Worsted 
balls are not suitable for dusty floors. One need 
not hesitate to add brown and gray worsted balls 
to the ball basket, "A white ball, too, for 
Sunday" as a child once suggested. Celluloid 
balls are being introduced. They are light, 
dainty, and keep clean. They present new 
sounds in rolling and bouncing. 

The kindergartner should give opportunities 
for the children to choose colors, especially in free 
work, and must not be critical of inharmonious 
combinations. A riot of color is not objectionable 
occasionally. It proclaims the child in his 
work and makes a child-study for the kinder- 
gartner. Children cannot see colors as adults 
do. 

The kindergartner should attend conferences 
held by the supervisors and teachers of art in the 
schools, and seek to elevate her own taste and 
feeling for the best combinations of color in dress, 
in class-room decorations and in the preparation 
of charts for exhibits. 

Handwork which is to be exhibited on the walls 
of the kindergarten room will make permanent 
impressions and must not represent merely childish 
choice. The appropriate use of color decorations 
to accord with the different seasons and festivals 
is a very interesting consideration. 

Red, white and blue chains should be present 
for a few days only while approaching a national 
holiday; red and green in imitation of the holly 
should be used freely in all Christmas work; 
j'ellows, orange, browns and reds during autumn 
and for Thanksgiving; tints of green, yellow, violet 
and pink for May jsoles and springtime decora- 
tions, wth snow-white trimmings once or twice 
in mid- winter. Such changing combinations will 
make an all-round-the-year-story in color, full 
of meaning, restful to the kindergartner and her 
visitors. If such a succession of color is not 

32 



THE KINDERGARTEN OF TO-DAY. 



33 



fully understood by the children, its effect will 
not be wholly without influence. 

Large sheets of colored tissue paper are 
useful in the kindergarten and many dainty 
colors may be secured to be used for fancy 
caps and " dress up " stories and plays. Tissue 
paper is also pretty and inexpensive for trim- 
mings and linings of Christmas boxes and May 
baskets. 

A few twists of a circle or square of tissue 
paper and a flower form may be suggested if not 
perfected. From these flowers, floral chains are 
sometimes made for spring decorations in city 
kindergartens where few real flowers can be se- 
cured. Strips of green tissue paper maybe 
twisted for stems. Green worsted may be used 
for stringing daisies. (See Plate XVI.) May 
poles are sometimes decorated with these tissue 
paper flowers. 

In all occupations some attention should be 
given to maintaining an appropriate correspondence 
between the object being made and the color 
used. Grays or white are used for free cutting 
as a rule, occasionally silhouette ])aper; but 
black should be generally avoided in the kinder- 
garten. 

If weaving is retained as a kindergarten occupa- 
tion, avoid all strong combinations as being 
especiafly injurious to the eye in checkered 



patterns. Avoid all glazed paper for the same 
cause. 

The use of a glass prism to throw the beautiful 
spectrum color upon the wall, upon the floor, 
upon the children themselves, is the best of color 
games. It is the "Light-bird" of the Mother- 
play. Looking through squares of colored glass 
or sheets of translucent paper to make all the 
world red or blue or green gives great pleasure. 
Looking through two sheets of different colors 
as yellow over blue, to find the result, is another 
interesting color game. 

In brush work, the children should not be 
deprived of the pleasure of mixing their own 
colors. They love to do it and will learn best 
by their own mistakes. The combination of colors 
in the color-wheel or in the color tops is fascinatinn. 
Kindergartners will find it a pleasing recreatiog 
at a mothers' meeting. Mothers have welcomed 
the spinning of color tops as a quiet ev^ening game 
for the children. 

Soap bubbles bring the joy of color in their 
dainty reflections and also suggest another de- 
lightful play for the home as well as the kinder- 
garten. 

A bubble so airy 
May carry a fairy; 
Float, float, pretty bubble, 
Float lightly away. 



"Whoso to dull and narrow lives 
Doth ope the sky's wide blue, 
The gold of sunset, rose of dawn. 

The diamond gleam of dew, 
Vast space on space of free fresh air. 

Green hilltop, outlook new. 
And forest path but seldom trod, 
Whoso doth this — doth work with God." 



Anon. 



DESCRIPTION OF PLATES. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The twenty plates included in Part I of this 
edition of "The Paradise of Childhood" have been 
selected with a view to present graphically the 
lines of kindergarten work and play that are 
being widely used at the present time. They are 
intended for comparison with the exclusively 
geometrical plates of the earlier editions. It is 
believed that they will speak for themselves as 
genuine expressions of childish work while at 
the same time they will indicate the relation of 
kindergarten drawing and handwork to that of 
the grades. 

"The Paradise of Childhood" would not be 
complete without pictures of the little ones 
themselves at play. 

Genuine child's play, out-of-door walks and 
exercises, gardening, the care of pets are all 
illustrated in the picture plates. Such pictures 
suggest the real life of the kindergarten. Every- 



where kindergartners of all shades of opinion 
unite in encouraging out-of-door occupations. 

All handwork, however interesting, is of 
secondary importance when compared with 
nature interests and social life in small groups. 
It is, indeed, in these real experiences in touch 
with nature and human life that the children 
receive impressions which give them thoughts 
to express in drawing or in other expressive 
hand work, and in trade, social and nature 
games. 

It is desirable, in starting on a walk, to have an 
objective point, however simple. Kindergartners 
should acquaint themselves with points of local 
interest. 

One of the first things for a kindergartner to do 
in taking charge of a city kindergarten is to 
study the streets, shops, and parks near the school 
for points of value. 



Pl.\te I 

Frontispiece. 

THE KINDERGARTEN OUT OF DOORS 



1. In the frontispiece a fall walk is shown. 
The log-cabin was evidently the objective point. 
This cabin is located in Central Park, New York 
city, and gives the children a very good idea of 
such a primitive dwelling. 

2. Below the children are starting with tools 
in hand to work in a city lot some distance from 
their school building. We see the little ones in 



the next picture actually at work making a 
garden. 

3. Radishes and lettuce were raised in this 
little garden. 

The little folks discovered that spading is not 
easy work, but they loved digging and gathering 
the stones better than planting. 

Animal life appeals to children more than plant 

34 



PLATE XVL 




THE KINDERGARTEN OF TO-DAY. 



35 



life; bees and ants, worms and butterflies may 
all be found in a garden while waiting for the 
harvest. The activity of digging, the activity 
of the insect appeals to the child more than the 
care of plant life. The waiting time is hard, but 
it, too, has its value in cultivating patience. 
Watering the plants is a joy and is often overdone. 
4. Some fine day the May pole is carried to 
the nearest park and a May dance is enjoyed in 
true English style on the green. 

These May festivals out-of-doors are now a 
regular feature of springtime plays in many 
kindergartens. The May poles are sometimes 
decorated with tissue-paper flowers made by the 
children. Fancy tissue-paper caps and wreaths 
are also made for the children to wear on these 
occasions. Spring colors are used in preference 
to the national colors, as light greens, pinks, 
yellows, blues and violet. 



Plate II. 
BUNXY. 

By courtesy of a Rochester Kindergarten, all rights reserved. 

In this circle, the kindergarten bunny is the 
center of attraction. The very atmosphere seems 
changed by the presence of Bunny, esiJecially 
when he is out of his cage. 

The children's minds are active and alert, if 
I we may judge their attitudes in this happy ring. 
There should usually be one pet at a time in 
' a kindergarten, for hygienic conditions must be 
I considered if pets are kept indoors. A kitten, 
I a canary bird or a bunny are the favorites. Bunny 
has the advantage of all three in our experience. 
It is very interesting to children to feed a pet, 
and there seems to be no limit to bunny's capacity. 
Bunny eats such vegetables and fruits as are 
1 easily brought by the children themselves. Then 
his quick movements, his long ears, stubby tail, 
I long hind legs, bright eyes, soft fur are all iii turn 
attractive features for conmient. The curves 
of the body, the crouching position, the divided 
lip, the noiseless bound fascinate day after day. 
Just why bunny is in the center of the ring to- 
day we cannot tell, but it may be that he has 
arrived lately and is being introduced. 

Dolly too has a place of honor. Perhaps she 

is a \'isitor as her bonnet has not been renio\-ed. 

Looking about the room we discover that it is 

"the windy month," for the windmill the weather- 



vane, and ships with sails are in evidence. We 
must look carefully to find the ships, for they are 
in the group of pictures resting on the ledge of 
the blackboard. Such groups of pictures, useful 
in illustrating various topics, are gathered by 
kindergartners and preserved in portfolios for 
use as occasion demands. 

The building lesson has evidently preceded the 
story hour. The building blocks indicate the 
variations in size now frequently found in kinder- 
gartens that are not limited to traditional mate- 
rials. 

The clear wall space, the few choice pictures, 
the friendly clock, the teacher's book-rack, the 
spreading fern, the aquarium and the graceful 
statuette all indicate the superior equipments of 
this kindergarten. 

We are indebted to Miss Ada Yan Stone Harris, 
supervisor of kindergartens and primary work 
in Rochester, N. Y., for permission to use this 
interesting photograph. 



Plate III. 



PLAYTIME. 

Plate III shows individual and group plays 
during a free period, possibly before the morning 
circle is called or a recess period. 

L Such vigorous exercise as a see-saw and a 
swing afford, are necessary for children and 
cainiot readily be furnished in a city home. They 
call for a little bravery in climbing. 

Kindergartens and public playgrounds should 
never be without such simple apparatus. 

2. X play corner with dolly and her house 
should be provided, if possible, in all kindergartens 
as shown in the plate. 

3. Two little people are modeling in snow while 
the rest of the children are possibly modeling in 
clay. 

City children lose much of the pleasure of 
playing in snow, as the streets are soon cleared 
and the snow that remains is soon unfit for children 
to touch. The wise kindergartner gathers a 
dish full while it is fresh and a little exjierience 
in snow modeling and snow melting results. 

4. In the lower picture a group of six children 
have just finished illustrating the story of " Dora 
and the light-house," on the sand table. The 
addition of a toy boat suggests the occasional 
use of toys with building blocks. 



36 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



Plate IV. 
TICK TOCK. 

By courtesy of the Ethical Culture Schools, N. Y. C. 
All rights reserved. 

The photographs, kindly loaned by the courtesy 
of the Ethical Culture Society through Miss 
Carohne T. Haven, present two of the newer 
phases of building in the kindergarten. 

"Tick-tock" not only shows the use of the en- 
larged blocks but also the use of additional 
material to perfect the form. The balls of the 
First Gift serve as weights in the larger clock and 
an enlarged circular tablet or card as the face. 
One of the Hailman beads probably is suspended 
in the smaller clocks on the tables. 

These realistic additions are pleasing to little 
children, but must not be used too frequently, as 
fancy should usually complete the form and play 
thus be given to the imagination. 

The clock on the floor, it will be observed, is not 
a model for the children at the tables, but a varia- 
tion of the same object. Children who are restless 
and need more exercise are chosen to do the more 
active building on the floor. In kindergartens 
where floors can be kept clean all the children 
may build on the floor. Such building I have 
seen also in the Speyer School of Teachers College 
and in other private schools. Building in win- 
dow sills or in the sand-table, the children stand- 
ing while they build, is another possibility. 

Plate V. 
THE FARM- YARD. 

By cctirtesy of The Ethical Culture Schools of N. Y. C. 
All rights reserved. 

"The Farm-vard" as presented in the second 
picture illustrates another type of building, 
namely, group work. It also illustrates in the 
best possible way the value of small toys, 
especially of farm animals, in giving the touch 
of reality. 

Paper dolls, animals modeled in clay, and box 
wagons may be used in lieu of real toys. Both 
have advantages. 

All the building should be carefully finished 
before the toys are placed, the children being then 
invited to the cabinet to choose what shall be 
added to complete the scene. 

There is no more valuable kindergarten material 
than the series of building blocks which are 
described and illustrated iu the older plates of 
this book. 



In our new plates we have presented the en- 
larged building blocks now preferred by many 
kindergartners and certainly desirable in the 
home for younger children. The smaller, lighter 
blocks are not so stable as the larger, heavier 
ones and hence require more dainty handling in 
building. The care and accuracy required in 
building with the small cubes of the kindergarten, 
and especially in placing the half and quarter 
inches of the fifth may produce nervousness. 
This is most likely to occur, however, when 
dictation is the principal method employed and 
when it is protracted. 

In many kindergartens both sizes are used. 
The larger size is given to immature or nervous 
children whose blocks frequently tumble down, 
or they are used for variety and to give the pleasure 
that comes from seeing two or more sizes of 
.similar object. 

In kindergartens where the additional ex- 
pense precludes the use of the enlarged building 
materials it is possible to build a few objects 
occasionally on the floor by utilizing the empty 
boxes and the lids of the Second Gift. An ele- 
vated road, bridges and tunnels, may be readily ; 
built in this way. It is advisable to secure at I 
least one set of the enlarged blocks or a set like ' 
the Hennessy building blocks for building on the 
floor, allowing the children to take turns from 
day to day in using them. 

We cannot leave the description of these plates 
■without calling attention to the walls and furnish- 
ings of the kindergarten room itself, which are 
ideal. 

The features to observe are : 

(1) The clear spaces and absence of unnecessary 
and tawdry decorative materials. There is 
strength suggested as well as beauty. 

(2) The choice of pictures and castes. The 
subjects are in touch with child-life and yet are 
elev^ating and of high artistic value. 

The pictures hang low. I 

(3) The plant is well chosen and well placed. ' 
This is also true of the aquarium. 

(4) The teacher's desk and chair suggest 
simplicity and strength. The varying heights 
of the children's chairs should also be noted. 

(5) The cabinet is ample, a fine specimen of 
building in itself. The objects it contains are 
carefully placed and well protected from dust. 
The drawers and side closet indicate that many 
materials need differing accommodations. 

(6) The large windows and shutter iu the door 



PLATE XVLl. 







H 



H 



n 



THE KINDERGARTEX OF TO-DAY. 



37 



suggest attention to everj' means of ventilation. 
The possibility of using the floor for building 
suggests that it is kept in excellent condition. 



Plate \1. 
OUR PETS. 

In Plate \T we find our favorite kindergarten 

pets, pussy and bunny. These, two pets are more 
easily cared for than any other animals. They 
are often taken to the children's homes, especially 
over Sunday and during vacations. 

A turtle is always a welcome visitor and its 
sluggish movements enable the little ones to get 
well acquainted with all its ways. The two little 
ones at the bottom of the plate are just outside 
the kindergarten room in the court-yard and are 
deeply interested in their little pet turtle. 

The chicken-coop was kept in the back yard of 
a settlement and daily the children took turns 
in feeding "Good mother hen" as she sat on her 
nest. A piece of tapestry was hung over a fence 
as a background for the picture, but it is a 
genuine out-of-door-picture in a city yard. 

Another feature of nature work is illustrated 
in blowing bubbles in the open court outside the 
kindergarten room. 

A baby visitor is sitting on the grass with a 
lap full of flowers. 

All kindergartners of every shade of opinion 
agree upon the importance of nature work, al- 
though the difficulties have not always been over- 
come in city kindergartens. 

Many suburban schools do not appreciate 
their nature privileges. 

Note. Most of these excellent and suggestive views 
were contributed by Miss Mary A. Wells, present super- 
visor of " Babies' Playgrounds" in the summer work in 
N. Y. C. 



Plate VII. 
OUR CHRISTMAS TREE. 

The two scenes presented in this plate may be 
named ''Before Christmas" and "After Christmas." 

A winter's walk is suggested in one, the kinder- 
gartner evidently having planned to go to a 
store where Christmas trees were being sold. 

After finding the tree which Santa Claus had 
sent to the city, the children became Santa Claus' 



helpers and carried the tree to the kindergarten, 
enjoying its branches with their sweet odors. 
Possibly some child found for the first time close 
touch with a real tree. In the city we cannot 
afford to lose this one opportunity of the year for 
such a nature experience. 

The tree is enjoyed in its natural state for 
several days before it is trimmed, and stories 
are invented of its travels to the city, of Farmer 
Brown and his wagon that brought the tree to 
the train, of the woodman who chopped it down, 
of the woods where it grew, of the birds that 
wondered where the tree was going, and the many 
little trees left behind that wanted to come and 
be Christmas trees too and play with the children 
in-doors. 

The children were busy day after day making 
paper chains, baskets, lanterns, icicles, balloons 
and other trimmings for decorations. Then came 
the Christmas party when mothers came to see the 
tree the children had trimmed and to receive 
gifts from the little hands that had made 
them. 

During the holidays the tree was loaned pos- 
sibly to a sick child who could not come to the 
Christmas party with the understanding that it 
should be returned to the kindergarten. 

In the second scene we see the inside of a kinder- 
garten room after the return of the tree and the 
children. Christmas day has gone, but not its 
happy memories. One boy has brought his box 
of tools and is allowed to try the saw in removing 
a branch from the tree. Some one suggests the 
branch is a little tree and it is stood up in the sand 
near the little log house. Other boys work hard 
to saw off more branches and make a real woods 
like the one the big tree came from. We see the 
woods in the sand box as branch after branch is 
added to stand for a tree. 

The children of the kindergarten are sitting 
quietly in the morning circle watching proceedings 
with close attention. As the sawing goes on, 
one spies saw-dust, another that the ends of the 
branches are Kght yellow in color and look like 
wood. The children learn where wood comes 
from by this bit of practical experience with tools, 
and the way is opened for the story of the car- 
penter as January advances and the trades are 
the topics for conversation and games. 

The toy corner shown is particularly interesting 
for Santa Claus sent a new dolly to kindergarten 
and a set of new furniture for dolly's house. 
Dolly is swinging in her toy hammock. 



38 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



Plate VIII. 
CONSTRUCTIVE WORK. 

Plate VIII exhibits a few specimens of con- 
structive work, the main object being a representa- 
tion of a new bridge which was building in the 
vicinity of the school. The kindergartner should 
strive to exercise her own creative powers in 
producing such objects allowing the older children 
to help, thus showing forth au advancing stage 
of "social living" while working together. 

Miss Luella A. Palmer in her address before the 
Kg. Dept. of the National Education Association 
in 1908 outlines the gradual evolution of a society 
in the kindergarten in the following words: 

"There will be the gradual evolution of a 
society growing in a way similar to man's, founded 
upon the desire for activity and the gregarious 
instinct. First (o) the children will' all do the 
same thing at the same time ; (b) a little later the 
result of the activity will be put together to form 
a common jjroduet. Then (c) will come the choice 
of a leader with all the children following. Next 
(d) will come the planning of a jiurpose by con- 
tributions from many individuals ; this purpose will 
then be carried out by each child in his own way. 
Finally (e) will come the planning of a common 
purpose which can be accomplished only by each 
child perfecting the particular share which falls 
to his lot. The kindergartner will use these 
methods with all materials, progressing as far 
as she can with each as she will realize that between 
four and six years of age is the period for the most 
rapid development of social ideals." 

Several of these points are illustrated in the 
work shown on this plate. 

The floral chains illustrate point (6), that is, 
the children's work is united to form one long 
chain to be used in decorating the room. 

The making of the bridge and of the kinder- 
garten room illustrates point (e). 

Many of the charts of which this plate is com- 
posed are "Spring or Easter Charts" and show 
the brush work appropriate for the season. 

A small cart to the right contains spring vege- 
tables modeled in clay and painted in natural 
colors ready for market. 

Plate IX. 

PAPER CUTTING. 

Plate IX shows quite remarkable results 
in free cutting. The specimens were all cut by 



children under six years of age. Each chart was 
contributed by a different kindergartner and each 
animal cut by a different child. 

1. Bunny's long ears, stubby tail, and the 
general form of his body are expressed so well 
and with such variety because the real bunny is 
back of them and lives in the child's mind as he 
works. 

Bunny's photograph may be seen as he was 
caught in the camera while running in the school 
room. 

The least perfect form is one cut by a child 
of four. It is, however, an unmistakable rabbit. 

The variety in position shows clearl}' that the 
children were truly expressing what they had seen 
in the rabbit's movements. No specimens cut 
by children who were familiar with pictures only 
could be so lifelike. 

2. The second chart shows the wild animals 
of the Zoo, and were cut in a kindergarten located 
near the Bronx Zoo. 

It illustrates the value of taking advantage 
of a child's environment. Children who were 
not frequent visitors of the Zoo could not cut 
such good animal forms even though provided 
with excellent picture books. 

There is more artistic expression in bunny than 
in the wild animals, for he was nearer and dearer 
to the children. 

3. The reproduction of the animals in the 
"Noah's Ark" series of wall decorative panels 
are excellent but they are not from the life. 

They illustrate well, however, the value of good 
wall pictures and the impression made by them. 

4. The remaining chart illustrates cutting toys 
to the line and the addition of coloring. Note— 
the string which indicates that Santa Claus ma}9 
really be drawn up and down the chimney. 

The little stocking illustrates cutting to the 
line although such a form is often cut freely. 
A trumpet and ball might be cut freely, but these 
were evidently cut from a pattern and colored 
in imitation of the kindergartner's work. Trum- 
pets and balls alternating or in groups of three 
make an effective border of children's work for 
Christmas decoration. 

Plate X. 

STAGES OF PROGRESS IN DRAWING. 

This plate shows si.x drawings of the horse 
each by a different child. These six children 
were all in one Italian kindergarten. 



PLATE XVIII. 




THE KINDERGARTEN OF TO-DAY. 



39 



The drawings indicate clearly how many 
different stages of progress a kindergartner may 
find among her children. 

Two children have represented the body of the 
horse with a single line. In the first there is 
almost no detail. The legs were not even counted, 
but there is strength of movement. The drawing 
of the rider with two curves is quite remarkable. 
It is a strong piece of work for a child. 

Children are evidently interested in tails and 
manes. The ears emerge in the fifth and sixth 
drawings and the mouth receives some attention. 
Note the careful drawing of the reins, the attempts 
at representing the horse's ne;k and the excellent 
placing of the fore and hind legs in three of the 
drawings. 

The varioas positions of the riders are also 
worthy of study. In how many cases are the 
hands of the rider drawn. Is clothing indicated 
in any one? The first six drawings suggest a 
freedom of movement not seen in the seventh and 
eighth, which are both by one little girl. These 
last two show a great effort in the direction of 
detail and a constraint in morement not desirable. 

I judge this child's work is being patterned after 
an older brother or sister's, or some older adult 
whom the child has watched closely. 

The continued story in the two pictures sug- 
gestive of farm life is an excellent hint on the 
selection of subjects suitable to be illustrated. 

Plate XI. 
PRACTICE AND OBJECT DRAWING. 

This plate shows six specimens of "practice 
work." Practice drawing is fully described in 
the chapter on drawing. Henny Penny and 
Duck-Luck should be followed by the other 
animals mentioned in this favorite story. 

The remaining illustrations upon this plate 
are specimens of single objects drawn with the 
object present or from memory. 

Three objects are children's playthings in out- 
line. Four are of plants or flowers which were 
placed before the child while drawing. The 
flowers in the glass are columbines and are very 
prettily colored in the original for a child's work. 

Pl.\te XII. 

ILLUSTRATIVE DRAWING. 

This plate contains a few specimens of illustra- 
tive drawings. They are full of interest, for 



movement and life can be seen in the crude figures. 
The attempt to show one person in the horizontal 
position in the bathing scene is a step forward 
for the child who made the attempt. 

The stride of the children walking on the side- 
wak is evident. The children are not standing 
still. The drivers are really driving. The teacher 
should encourage all effort to show motion. 
The bird-like horses with any number of legs are 
rather unusual. The unfinished row of houses 
may be due to lack of time, but every house is 
emitting smoke. Children love to draw smoke. 

The picture of the schoolhouse with its care- 
lessly drawn windows and flag is not without 
striking effect. The running attitude of one 
child with the suggestion of one hand detached 
from the body indicates a phase of childish draw- 
ing. Three of the hats are also "in the air." 

The ears and fingers indicate a note of progress 
in the picture of the girl jumping the rope. The 
figure is off the ground, which shows the child 
who drew was thinkng. Children should be 
encouraged to draw pictures of their games and 
plays. 

The last four specimens on the plate are of a 
decidedly advancing type, much attention having 
been given to details. The human faces in several 
figures approach the side view, which is one of the 
evidences of a new phase. The tendency to the 
repetit'on and conventional forms is marked in 
the drawing of the kindergarten room. The 
little figures are the children of the kindergarten 
sitting with folded hands resting on the tables! 
The child who made the drawing is beyond the 
kindergarten age in abitity, although the age in 
years is under six. Note the window with its 
plants, the blackboard, the organ, the teacher, 
the visitor! 

The picture showing one man in three positions, 
getting ready to dive, diving, and floating on the 
water, illustrates the fact that children express 
their thoughts in drawing instead of drawing 
from the object or scene. The child who drew 
it shows a stage of progress in advance of the 
kindergarten. The school was located near the 
river and the sketch illustrates the interest in 
what goes on in the environment. This is also 
true of the drawing of the automobile which is 
now a favorite object, although one would think 
it too difficult for a kindergarten child to attempt. 

The drawings on this plate clearly indicate the 
close relation between the kindergarten and the 
primary grades in the subject of drawing. 



40 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



Plate XIIL 
ILLUSTRATIVE DRAWINGS— CITY LIFE. 

The drawings on this plate would be creditable 
for primar.v work. The little artists were all 
under s x years of age. The drawings illustrate 
" City life " as seen in the streets near the school. 
The bridge was drawn by children who had watched 
the building of one of the East River bridges and 
were deeply interested in seeing the boats go 
under. One child thought a bridge was built 
"to let the boats go under." 

The attention to detail is a marked feature of 
the drawings on this plate and indicates that the 
children are advancing. This is also indicated 
by the side view of the faces in one of the little 
pictures. All other faces, it will be observed, are 
full front view which is the childlike way. (See 
Sully's "Studies of Childhood.") 

Special attention is called to the suggestion 
of a horse in the last drawing. It is apparently 
simply indicated by four hoofs! The reins seem 
to be an extension of the dri\-er's arms. The 
interest evidently centered in the mail wagon 
on this occasion, but the sign of the horse is most 
noteworthy. While printing is not taught in 
the kindergarten, it is desirable to encourage the 
natural interest arising from seeing signs and 
picture books. This interest accounts for the 
U. S. In the same way kindergarten children 
often copy the word ice, which they see so often 
in the street on ice wagons. 

The crowded trolley with the sun shining on 
it, is a very unusual result from a kindergarten 
child, but it is presented because it is well to know 
the high water-mark. Note that the wheels are 
in perspective. 

The fuss.v, decorated figures of a mother and 
two children are amusing as a passing stage, but 
such drawing should not be encouraged. 

The fireman and all of his work is vividly 
portrayed again and again in the city kinder- 
gartens. 

Pl.\te XIV. 

TEARING, CUTTING, SEWING. 

Plate XIV presents copies of four charts made 
in four different kindergartens. Each piece of 
work is the work of a different child. Several 
kinds of work are indicated. The first chart is 
free tearing. The carpenter's tools are torn out 



of pieces of gray bogus paper. Such paper is 
stiff, but yields readily to tearing or cutting. 

Tearing is often substituted for cutting with 
good results. It gi^•es a softer edge than the 
scissors. Tearing strips for paper chains is good 
practice and the chains appear well. Some 
consider them more artistic than those made from 
prepared strips. 

The paper dolls shown are not cut from a piece 
of paper doubled according to a common practice. 

By keeping the whole figure in mind, the children 
produce dolls in much greater variety and of 
greater interest. Dolls with and without arms, 
full fa es, various patterns of hats and caps are 
all in evidence. Each child had his own thought 
and gave it expression. Toes are turned in, 
toes are turned out. As is usually true of dolls, 
the girl baby predominates. 

The symmetry maintained in two or three 
figures is ciuite remarkable when one remembers 
that the paper was not doubled, but that the child 
cut all the way around. 

It may be that the dolls were drawn before 
cutting. It is good practice for the child to cut 
out his own drawings as a preliminary step in 
free cutting. The markings of cra3'on may 
indicate that the dolls were drawn or that they 
were colored after cutting. Both ways are good. 

The third chart contains specimens of work 
planned and made by children without any sug- 
gestion or direction from the kindergartner. 
Subject, material and method of work were all 
original. Choice of color was also the child's. 
If the color could be seen as in the original, the 
chart would be even more interesting as wholly 
childlike. 

Many kindergartners have one table period 
on Friday devoted to such independent work. 
Various kinds of material and tools are laid out 
and the child must decide for himself which he 
will use and what he will make. 

It would be difficult to trace the cause for such 
a variety as is presented in this particular chart, 
but evidently these little ones were not imitators 
and had gained power to plan a simple piece of 
work of their own choice. 

It is of interest to read over the list of objects 
made: A flag, a lighthouse, a wigwam, a lantern, 
a whisk-broom holder, a church, engines, a rake 
a false face, a doll, a cow, a horse and rider, a 
letter, a house, a fort, a sled. 

The materials provided on this occasion were 
limited to paper, paste, splints, crayons, and scis- 



THE KINDERGARTEN OF TO-DAY. 



41 



sors, but these are quite a number to choose 
from. 

When one realizes that every specimen on this 
chart V as originated and executed without aid 
by a child, its value increases. The most original 
idea is the way in which the splint-handle is 
attached to the rake, a small piece of paper being 
pasted over the end of the splint. 

The use of parciuetry for decorative effect is 
inte.esting. It is to be found on the lantern, 
the whislv-holder and the church. 

The fourth chart on the plate shows specimens 
of sewing o\-er the edge of paper. No holes were 
made beforehand. This sewing is not as trying 
to the eye as finding a hole in which to insert a 
needle and is better related to later work in real 
sewing in the grades. Sewing is not essential 
work in the kindergarten, as such exercises come 
later in the regular |)rimary course in sewing and 
with more suitable material. Some physicians 
object seriously to kindergarten sewing. 

The objects are of interest. The central one 
is a heart which holds candy for a present on 
St. Valentine's Day. The others speak for 
themselves. 

Plate XV. 
BRUSH WORK. 

Plate XV illustrates the topic Brush Work. 

These specimens of brush work are the work 
of children under six j'ears of age. 

1. The first piece of work shows the broad and 
narrow ribbons mentioned in the chapter on 
brush work. It may constitute the first lesson 
with the brush. Several sheets of such practice 
work should be made. Using different colors 
each day will vary the work sufliciently and main- 
tain the child's interest. This interest at first 
consists in seeing the color come. The kinder- 
gartner makes se^^eral pages by way of model, 
letting the children observe that the broad ribbons 
come when the brush spread.s. It wiU be harder 
for the children to make the narrow ribbons. 
It is better not to attempt them at first. No 
attempt at very fine lines should be made, neither 
should exactness in direction be expected. The 
specimen given is a better result than the average 
child can produce for some time. 

The fences suggest continued practice in straight 
lines in different directions. Under one fence 
stubby grass is growing. On the other fence 
the picture of a bunny was mounted to give life 



and added interest to the finished work. Any 
other appropriate picture could be substituted. 
While we have not re]3eated specimens of work 
usually, we here show three fences to suggest the 
individuality of children's work. Children learn 
by seeing the teacher work, but they should not 
directly copy. They should draw or paint the 
fence "out of the head." This kind of work 
makes for freedom and prevents stilted effects. 
The plate specimens are progressive. They 
indicate a definite course, but other progressions 
will be found equally good. 

2. The apple stands for practice on round 
objects, beginning with the ball, which should be 
painted singly with a string attached, and then 
two, three to the six colored balls of the first Gift. 

The apple also stands for the painting of a 
single object, as different fruits and vegetables. 
It is the kind of "object drawing" explained 
in the chapter on drawing. The apple further 
suggests the use of a second color in the stem. 
The orange, the lemon, the banana, the potato, 
the carrot, the tomato, the pumpkin may follow. 

3. The hen stands for a specimen of entirely 
free child's work. Such work should be en- 
couraged. 

4. After practice in making single washes which 
cover a whole sheet, the children should wash in 
such objects as the window-box and the flower- 
pot. The specimens shown were not outlined 
before coloring. The result, without boundary 
lines, is preferable. 

Outlines do not improve the children's work. 
The child's attention seems to be distracted by 
ihem. Children soon get the form of an object 
by simply using the wash. 

5. The flower-pot on the left side of the plate 
and the two flowers below show early or crude 
work, while the two similar specimens on the 
right and the cocoon show very good results for 
a child. The tulip also, with its broad leaf, is 
very good work for a child. The plate must be 
turned in judging of the tulip's original position. 

6. The chart at the bottom of the plate is a 
sort of calendar which the children kept in one 
kindergarten to express the work they were doing 
from day to day in their out-of-door garden. 
It includes both free cutting and the painting 
of tools, dresses and flowers. 

The children themselves suggested making 
the flower-bed, although the flowers had not yet 
appeared in their garden. The kindergartner 
Save the pattern for a flower, which was varied by 



42 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



the children. The flowers were placed by the 
children. The butterfly was added by the kinder- 
gartner. It suggests the relation of insect life 
to the garden. 

7. The children will learn much about plant 
life in their crude attempts to reproduce plants 
in color at different stages of their growth in 
flower-pots as indicated in our two selections.* 

S. Children are deeply interested in painting 
the flowers and vegetables as they are gathered 
in their own garden from time to time. Tulips, 
daffodils, nasturtiums and geraniums are often 
painted so well by the children that they are 
used effectively in decorative borders by carefully 
mounting on the blackboard or above it on an 
appropriate background of cartridge paper or 
denim. Such a united piece of work stands for 
"community" work, illustrating the value of 
united effort. (See Plate XIX on Decorative 
borders.) 

PL.4TE XVI. 

PAPER CUTTING AND COLORING. 

Plate XVI shows twenty-two charts, each one 
being contributed from a different kindergarten. 

Nearly every chart on the plate exhibits one 
or more phases of paper cutting. 

1. The animal forms were cut to the line and 
afterwards colored. They illustrate work similar 
to that described under practice drawing. The 
natural positions of the animals on the bottom 
row is owing to the fact that heads and legs are 
separate and are attached with paper-fasteners 
to the body. Teddy bears are often made in 
this way and give the children great pleasure. 
They should be colored on both sides. 

2. The lighthouses and ships illustrate cutting 
out the chiM's own free drawing. 

3. The hoases, lamp-posts, wagons, leaves, 
and garments on the line all are specimens of 
free cutting. 

4. The dollies were evidently doubled. This 
may be permitted on occasion, although doubling 
is not the best way. 

.5. Several charts illustrate paper-folding, espe- 
cially those showing the windows. The window 
is a very attractive object to a child and should 
be made in many ways, illustrating different 
seasons and also the time of day. The moon or 



a star may be placed so as to suggest night. 
Shutters and curtains may be added to the 
window. A plant may appear on the sill. 

6. The first two rows of charts on the left of 
the plate all tell the story of "City lights." 

Below is the story of clearing the city street 
after a snowstorm. 

7. Underneath the charts the careful observer 
will find a few specimens of constructive work 
gathered from several kindergartens. To the 
left several sizes of cylindrical paper cups, very 
easy to make, may be seen. Several sizes and 
shapes of boxes follow and a set of doll's furniture. 
A doll's carriage appears to the right made from 
a box. 

8. The central figures are clowns standing on a 
circular card which revolves. This last men- 
tioned object was made mainly by the kinder- 
gartner, the children giving their help in coloring 
the figures. It is a home-made toy suggestive 
to parents of ways to secure toys free of expense. 
Kindergartners should themselves exercise con- 
structive ingenuity. 

Older brothers and sisters should be encouraged 
to aid in making doll's houses, puppet shows, 
historical scenes, etc. 

Such work introduced occasionally indicates 
a natural advance in construction work from 
grade to grade which it is the kindergartner's 
privilege and duty to encourage. 

"Home-made toys" will prove a practical and 
an attractive subject for a "mothers' meeting." 

Pl.^te XVII. 

THE BLACKSMITH, THE CARPENTER 
AND THE MINER. 

On this plate one chart presents specimens of 
free cutting, resulting from the consideration of 
the work of the carpenter. It is an expression 
made possible by the impressions which have 
preceded. 

The tree of the forest was cut out ofpaper and 
painted. The little ones were evidently impressed 
by the trunk of the tree. 

The variations in the tools indicate that the 
cutting is free and not to the line. The real 
tools had been examined. 

The kindergartner cut several tools, the children 
watching and then they made the attempt. 



*At a later stage of the work in primary grades, the entire history of several plants from seed to seed should be 
followed by each individual child, both in brush work and in oral and written composition, taking a different seed 
each year. The stages of the butterfly and of the frog sliould also be followed in the same way in natural colors. 



PLATE XIX. 




DECORATIVE BORDERS. 



PLATE XX. 




CLAY MODELING. 



THE KINDERGARTEN OF TO-DAY. 



43 



They were also encouraged to cut things made 
of wood and the chart shows a door, a window, a 
table and a chair. 

A few logs cut from the Christmas tree give 
tone and life to the story as pictured. Such a 
chart may well be hung in a corner of the kinder- 
garten room for a short time after the story of the 
carpenter is completed, and referred to occasionally 
when the game of the carpenter is to be played. 
It may then be put away to be in readiness as part 
of a school exhibit. 

Plate XII also shows illustrations of the work 
of the blacksmith and the miner, the one mainly 
free cutting and the other crayon drawing. 

The kindergartner in mounting pieces of the 
children's cutting has attempted to arrange them 
to suggest the interior of a blacksmith 
shop. 

The work is not the work of one child. The 
children all cut horse-shoes. Some tried the 
blacksmith himself, others the forge, and a few 
remembered the anvil and hammer. Some brave 
ones were not daunted at the horse. 

Selected pieces were used for the chart, the 
others were retained for the children. The 
work is crude as children's work should be. 

The miner is not an occupation to be presented 
in all kindergartens, but in this particular case, 
a coal-yard was located near by and the children 
first drew coal carts. Then the story of where 
the coal came from was told simply. 

In the cart on the chart we see the tendency 
of the child to draw what he knows is present 
whether he sees it or not. The pieces of coal 
can be seen to the very bottom of the cart because 
the child knows they are there. 

One child remembered that the horse must be 
fed. 

When the story of the coal mine was told, 
mountains of sand were made in the sand-table 
to show the country where the miner digs to get 
coal for us. 

Then the shaft of the mine was drawn by the 
kindergartner. It was built of blocks by the 
children and a toy pail or basket lowered. It was 
finally drawn with the car and miners going up 
and down. Making the sides of the shafts 
was excellent practice in drawing long, soft 
lines. 

The trades presented by Froebel in his " Mother- 
play " indicate that the simpler ones only should 
be chosen and those which the child sees more 
or less of in his local environment. 



Plate XVIII. 
CONSTRUCTIVE WORK. 

Plate XVII represents odds and ends of con- 
structive work. Such work is encouraged in 
many kindergartens for home work and is sug- 
gested to mothers in mothers' meetings. 

Other kindergartners have brought such work 
forward as a regular kindergarten occupation, 
considering it an extension or modification of 
the Froebelian occupation known as cardboard 
modeling. 

The specimens shown do not indicate any 
sequence of work. They were collected from 
several kindergartens. Construction work may 
be very simple, as shown in the first object, which 
is a table made by pasting a piece of pape or 
card upon a spool; in the second, a bird-house 
mounted on a splint and made to stand by putting 
the end of the splint in a spool or in a soft clay 
standard. The use of the splint as a handle is 
shown in the fan, the broom, the shovel and the 
plow. The muff, mitts, watch, and buzz-wheel 
give practice in the use of cord or worsted. The 
May-pole in minature is made in various ways. 
In this one the worsted streamers are slipped in 
notches cut on the edge of a circular card. The 
standard is of clay. 

Clothespins are often dressed as dolls — the 
one shown happens to be a soldier. 

The use of the lid of a box is seen on the lower 
.shelf. It contains a barn,, chicken-coop and 
watering trough. Toy animals may be added and 
the whole makes a pleasing home-made toy. 
Boxes are used for dolls' houses, wagons, cars. 

The box for bunny is very interesting. A paper 
bunny is mounted on the inside of the box, a 
manilla mat makes the bars. A clay carrot 
l)ainted, with green paper fringed for leaves, 
suggests bunny is being fed. The interest in 
animals should be encouraged in every way with 
young children. 

The toy squirrel is not the work of a kinder- 
garten child. It was cut out of wood in the work- 
shop and sent to the kindergarten as a plaything. 
It may be used in the sand-table. 

The cylindrical roll in front of the large shovel 
represents a bear sleeping in a hollow tree. The 
bear is made of a roll of brown tissue paper. 

The bird on the lower shelf sits on a nest in 
which a slit has been cut. Five birds are sitting 
on a perch or telegraph wire. 

The ducks are swimming on a pond, the pond 



44 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



being of silver paper mounted on a card. The 
fringed paper is made to represent bushes on the 
banks of the pond. Many such simple country 
scenes may be constructed and are useful as home- 
made toys. 

The house and clock on the top shelf stand on 
the edges of the paper, which is turned or folded 
back. 

The screen is simple folding of a stiff piece of 
paper decorated with flowers painted by children. 

The chimney is a hollow paper prism with 
bricks drawn by the children. A chimney 
swallow's nest is fastened inside. It is made of 
tissue paper. 

The use of tissue paper is shown in the basket 
full of paper flowers and in the trimmings on the 
doll's hat. The doll's hat is a paper circle and the 
ribbons are paper strips. The flowers are made 
by cutting squares or circles of tissue paper and 
twisting from the center. 

The plow is made of a piece of heavy manilla 
paper with an angle cut out. It moves well 
through sand. 

The toolbox has a lid and holds all the tools 
which were cut after seeing a real toolbox. Thus 
every child could hnve a play box of tools. 

Many similar forms can be devised by the 
ingenious mother, indergartner or child, by the 
use of any material at hand. 

Construction work requires the practical use 
of folding, cutting and pasting. 

DECORATIVE BORDERS. 

Plate XIX. 

Plate XIX shows decorative borders adapted 
to the seasons, sju'ing, fall and winter. These 
borders are examples of group or commmiity 
work, the kindergartner and the children having 



united their efforts to beautify the kindergarten 
room. 

If there is a long blackboard in the room such 
borders may be mounted directly on it at the upper 
edge. They may also be momited above the 
blackboard on green denim or cartridge paper. 
The borders need not be extended entirely around 
the room. 

The work of the kindergartner is shown in the 
selection of good patterns for the units of design. 
It is also necessary for her to direct the placing 
and mounting with greater care than usual 
because the work is to be used for decoration and 
will impress itself upon the children. 

The work of the children consists of cutting to 
the line, mounting, coloring, and suggesting how 
to place the units. 

In borders 2 and .3 selected chiklren drew the 
backgrounds. 

The trees and houses in the winter scene are 
examples of free cutting by the children. The 
background and figures are mainly the work of 
the kindergartner. Suggestions for arrangement 
given by the children were considered. The last 
two borders should be joined to form the whole. 

The mounting of this winter scene was done 
upon bluish-gray cartridge paper about ten inches 
in width. This gave a cold atmosphere. The 
border was very effective for a winter decoration. 

Plate XX. 
CLAY MODELING. 

See Part II, pages 111 and 222 and footnotes. 

Sand and clay modeling have always been con- 
sidered very important kindergarten occupations. 
Their treatment will be found in Part 11. Milton 
Bradley Co. publishes a suggestive little book 
entitled " The Way of Clay," from which the 
illustrations on plate XX have been taken. 




FRAU LOUISE FROEBEL. 



PART II. 



THE PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



By EDWARD WIEBE. 

Original Text as Edited by Milton Bradley in Quarter Century Edition, with 
Footnotes prepared for Jubilee Edition by Jenxy B. Merrill, Pd.D. 



N.B. — The Editor's Notes of Part II belong to the Quarter Century Edition. The footnotes indicate 

the vie%vs of the Editor of the Jubilee Edition. 



PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION. 



- Until a recent period, but little interest has 
been felt bj' people iu this country, with re- 
gard to the Kindergarten method of instruc- 
tion, for the simple reason that a correct knowl- 
edge of the system has never been fully pro- 
mulgated here. However the lectures of Miss 
E. P. Peabody of Cambridge, Mass., have 
awakened some degree of enthusiasm upon 
(he subject in different localities, and the es- 
tablishment of a few Kindergarten schools 
has served to call forth a more general inquirj' 
concerning its merits. 

We claim that everyone who believes in 
rational education will become deeply inter- 
ested iu the peculiar features of the work, 
after haviug become acquainted with Froebel's 
principles and plan ; and that all that is needed 
to eulist the popular sentiment in its favor is 
the establishment of institutions of this kind, 
in this country, upon the right basis. 

With such au object in view, we propose to 
present an outline of the Kindergarten plan as 
developed by its origiuator in Germany, and 
to a considerable extent by his followers in 
France and England. 

But as Froebel's is a system which must be 
carried out faithfully in all its important fea- 
tures, to insure success, we must adopt his 
plan as a whole and carry it out with such 
modifications of secondary minutiae only, as 
the individual case maj' acquire without vio- 
lating its fundamental principles. If this can- 
not be accomplished, it were better not to at- 
tempt the task at all. 

The present work is entitled a Manual for 
Self-Instnictiou ami a Practical Guide for Kin- 
dergartners. Those who design to use it for 
either of these purposes, must not expect to 
find in it all that they ought to know iu order 
to instruct the young successfull}' according 
to Froebel's principles. No book can ever be 
written which is able to make a perfect Kin- 
dergartner ; this requires the traiuiug of au 
able teacher actively engaged- iu the work at 
the momeut. "Kindergarten Culture," saj's 



Miss Peabody, in the preface to her "Moral 
Culture of Infancy," "is the adult mind en- 
tering into the child's world and appreciatiug 
nature's intention as displaj-ed in every im- 
pulse of spontaneous life, so directing it that 
the joy of success may be ensured at every 
step, and artistic things be actually produced, 
which gives the self-reliance and conscious 
intelligence that ought to discriminate human 
power from blind force." 

With this thought coustautlj' present in his 
mind, the reader will find, iu this book, all 
that is indispensably necessary for him to 
know, from the first establishment of the Kin- 
dergarten through all its various degrees of 
development, including the use of the mate- 
rials and the engagement in such occupations 
as are peculiar to the system. There is much 
more, however, that can be learned only by 
individual obsenation. The fact, that here 
and there, persons, presuming upon the slight 
knowledge which they maj' have gained of 
Froebel and his educational principles, from 
books, have established schools called Kinder- 
gartens, which in reality had nothing in com- 
mon with the legitimate Kindergarten but the 
name, has caused distrust and even opposi- 
tion, in many minds toward everj'thing that 
pertains to this method of instruction. In dis- 
criminating between the spurious and the real, 
as is the design of this work, the author would 
mention with special commendation, the Edu- 
cational Institute conducted by Mrs. and Miss 
Kriege in Boston. It connects with the Kin- 
dergarten proper, a Traiuiug School for ladies, 
and any one who wishes to be instructed in 
the correct method will there be able to ac- 
quire the desired knowledge. 

Besides the institute just mentioned, there 
is one in Springfield, Mass., under the super- 
vision of the writer, designed not only for the 
instruction of classes of children in accordance 
with these principles, but also for imparting 
information to those who are desirous to be- 
come Kindergartners. From this source, the 



48 



PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION. 



method has ah-eady been acquired in several 
instances, and as one result, it has been in- 
troduced into two of the schools connected 
with the State Institution at Monsou, Mass. 

The writer was in early life acquainted with 
Frcebel ; and his subsequent experience as a 
teacher has only sensed to confirm the favor- 
able opinion of the system, which he then de- 
rived fron\ a personal knowledge of its inven- 
tor. A desire to promote the interests of tnie 
education has led him to undertake this work 
of interpretation and explanation. 

Without claiming for it perfection, he be- 
lieves that, as a guide, it will stand favorably 
in comparison with any publication upon the 
subiect in the English or the French language. 



The German of Marenholtz, Goldammer, 
Morgenstern and Frcebel have been made use 
of in its preparation, and though new featm-es 
have, in rare cases only been added to the 
original plan, several changes have been made 
in minor details, so as to adapt this mode of 
instruction more readily to the American mind. 
This has been done, however, without omitting 
aught of that German thoroughness, which 
characterizes so strongly every featiu-e of FrcE- 
bel's system. 

The plates accompanying this work are re- 
prints from "Goldammer's Kindergarten," a 
book recently published in Germany. 

Edwakd Wiebk. 
Springfield, Mass., 2869. 



PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. 



In the year 1868 the editor of the Quarter Century Edition was persuaded to publish " The 
Paradise of Childhood," by one of his neighbors, Mr. Edward Wiebe, and also to begin the man- 
ufacture of kindergarten material for use in America. Mr. "Wiebe, who came to Springfield a 
few years prior to that time, was a very intelligent and well educated man and was then en- 
gaged in teaching music, but had gained a knowledge of the kindergarten system through his 
association with the widow of Frabel before leaving Germany. He was anxious to introduce 
it in this country, and as soon as he became acquainted with the editor, who was at the head 
of a factory for making children's games and home amusements, began to urge his co-opera- 
tion, both from an educational and a commercial standpoint. The editor knew nothing 
about the kindergarten and did not take any interest in it so long as Mr. Wiebe was its only 
advocate. Not many months later, however, he attended an exposition of kindergarten prin- 
ciples and aims by Miss Elizal)eth P. Peabody, who had recently returned from a careful study 
of them in Crermany and undertaken to convert America to the cause. To that single even- 
ing talk, given in a school-house near his home, the editor attributes whatever he has done in 
the name of the kindergarten during the last twenty-five years, and as an immediate result he 
yielded to Mr. AViebe's entreaties to publish the manuscript of "The Paradise of Childhood," 
which had been prepared for a long time, and also began making the kindergarten material. 

In those daj's all the kindergarten literature that had been published in this country was 
confined to a few newspaper and magazine articles. The first edition of "The Paradise of 
Childhood" contained what is here inserted as the Author's Preface, but was then called the in- 
troduction, a few preliminary explanations about establishing a kindergarten and the author's 
text on the twenty gifts and occupations. The illustrations were reprints from " Goldam- 
mer's Kindergarten," being lithographed on separate plates, in the back part of the book. 

In subsequent editions the paper entitled "Kindergarten Culture," was added, and in 1878 
the plates of " The Paradise of Childhood " were prefaced with a brief text and published in 
separate form as " A Hand-Book for the Kindergarten," the contents of which were after- 
wards incorporated with the "Paradise" during many editions. For a quarter of a century 
this work has been accepted as the only single book furnishing in brief an outline of both 
the theory and practice of the kindergarten. In 1876 it received honorable mention ax, the 
Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition as being the first illustrated guide to the kindergarten ever 
published in the English language. 

At the end of twenty-five years the editor felt that the time had come to prepare an edition 



50 PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. 

of the book ■which should in some respects differ radically from any yet published. It was, 
therefore, resolved to print again Mr. Wiebe's original text, with the paper ou "Kindergarten 
Culture" as an introduction, putting the illustrations in the body of the book, instead of group- 
ing them at the end, and adding such notes as the kindergarten knowledge of to-day would 
naturally approve. These notes include some suggestions regarding the use of color in the 
kindergarten, a matter to which the editor has given much special study, and a brief paper at 
the end of the book about the games. As a proper prelude to the study of the kindergarten 
system a Life of Frrebel has been made a part of this book, with a concluding chapter 
about the movement since his death, which will, it is hoped, prove helpful to such students as 
have not had the benefit of other biographical works relating to the founder of the kinder- 
garten. This life is illustrated with pictures taken in Cxermany for that puqjose and also a 
map of the section where Frcebel lived and labored. The editor is, of coui'se, aware that some 
leading kindergarten training teachers object to the use of all "guide books" ^^y either the pu- 
pils or teachers of the system. He believes, however, that they still have their place in the 
educational world, although they may not be as e seutial as they were twenty-five years ago. 

When the work on this new edition was begun the hope was entertained that it might be 
completed within twenty-five years of the first appearance of the book, luit certain unavoidable 
delays have made the task a longer one than was at first anticipated. Doubtless some critics 
will feel that in the attempt to remodel the book too much has been done, while others will 
regret that too little is undertaken. The editor can but hope, however, that this edition, taken 
as a whole, will prove a help to many earnest students of Frcebel and the kindergarten system. 
In conclusion he desires to return sincere thanks to all his co-laborers in the kindergarten 
field who by counsel and suggestions have done so much to help him in his work. 

Spi'ingfield, Mass.. January 1, 1S96. 



THE PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD; 

A GUIDE TO KINDERGARTNERS. 

With Footnotes by JENNY B. MERRILL, Pd D. 



ESTABLISHMENT OF A KINDERGARTEN. 



The requisites for the establishment of a 
"Kiodergarteu" are the following : 

1. A house, containing at least one large 
room, spacious enough to allow the children, 
not only to engage in all their occupations, 
both sitting and standing, but also to practice 
their movement plays, which, during inclement 
seasons, must be done indoors. 

"2. Adjoining the large room, one or two 
smaller rooms for sundry purposes. 

3. A number of tables, according to the size 
of the school, each table affording a smooth 
surface ten feet long and four feet wide, rest- 
ing on movable frames from eighteen to twenty- 
four inches high.* The table should be divided 
into ten equal squares, to accommodate as 
many pupils ; and each square subdivided into 
smaller squares of one inch, to guide the chil- 
dren in many of their occupations. On either 
side of the tables should be settees with fold- 
ing seats, or small chairs ten to fifteen inches 
high. The tables and settees should not be 
fastened to the floor, as they will need to be 
removed at times to make room for occupa- 
tions in which they are not used. 

4. A piano-forte for gymnastic and musical 
exercises — the latter being au important fea- 
ture of the plan, since all the occupations are 
iutersi)ersed with, and many of them accom- 
panied by siuging. 

.5. Various closets for keeping the apparatus 
and work of the children — a wardrobe, wash- 
stand, chairs, teacher's table, etc. 



The house should be pleasantly located, re- 
moved from the bustle of a thoroughfare, and 
its rooms arranged with strict regard to hy- 
gienic principles. A garden should surround 
or, at least adjoin the building, for frequent 
outdoor exercises, and for gardening purposes. 
A small plot is assigned to each child, in which 
he sows the seeds and cultivates the plants, 
receiving, in due time, the flowers or fruits, 
as the result of his iudustr}' and care. 

When a Training School is connected with 
the Kindergarten, the children of the "Garten" 
are di^^ded into groups of five or ten — each 
group being assisted in its occupations by 
one of the lady pupils attending tlJe Training 
School. 

Should there be a greater number of such 
assistants than can be couveuieutly occupied 
in the Kindergarten, they may take turns with 
each other. In a Training School of this kind, 
under the charge of a competent dii'ector, 
ladies are enabled to acquire a thorough and 
practical knowledge of the system. They 
should bind themselves, however, to remain 
connected with the institution a specified time, 
and to follow out the details of the method 
patiently, if they aim to fit themselves to con- 
duct a Kindergarten with success. 

lu any establishment of more than twenty 
children, a nurse should be in constant attend- 
ance. It should be her dutj' also to presei-ve 
order and cleanliness in the rooms, and to act 
as jauitrix to the institution. 



* Tables are now usualh' made six feet long and eighteen or twenty inches wide. Tables three feet long 
are very convenient, as they can be put together in various ways and are more easilv moved for game periods 
by two children, one at each end. They are also convenient in arranging the children in group work. 



h 



MEANS AND WAYS OF OCCUPATION 

IN THE KINDERGARTEN. 



Befoee enteriug into a description of the va- 
rious means of occupation in the Kindergarten, 
it will be proper to state that Friedrich Fro-bel, 
the inventor of this sj'Stem of education, calls 
all occiijiatioiis in the Kindergarten ^'■phu/s" and 
the materials for occnpatiou ";///?«." In these 
systematically-arranged plays, Fra-bel starts 
from the fundamental idea that all education 
should begin with a development of the desire 
for actirit)/ innate in the child ; and he has been, 
as is universally acknowledged, eminently suc- 
cessful in this part of bis important work. 
Each step in the course of training is a logical 
sequence of the preceding one ; and the various 
means of occupation aj'e developed, one from 
another, in a perfectly natural order, begin- 
ning with the simplest and concluding with 
the most difficult features in all the varieties 
of occupation. Together they satisfy all the 
deyniiiids of the child's nature in respiect both 
to mental and physical culture, and lay the 
surest foundation for all subsequent educa- 
tion in school and in life. 

The time of occupation in the Kindergarten 
is three or four hours on each week day, usu- 
ally from 9 to 12 or 1 o'clock; and the time 
allotted to each separate occupation, includ- 
ing the changes from one to another, is from 
twenty to thirty minutes. Movement plays, so- 
called, in which the children imitate the tlyiug 
of birds, swimming of fish, the motions of 
sowing, mowing, threshing, etc., in connec- 
tion with light gymnastics and vocal exercises, 
alternate with the plays performed in a sitting 
posture. All occupations that can be engaged 
in out of doors, are carried on in the garden 
whenever the season and weather permit. 

For the reason that the various occupations, 
as previously stated, are so intimately con- 
nected, growing, as it were, out of each other, 
they are introduced verj' gradually, so as to 
afford each child ample time to become sutti- 
ciently prepared for the next step, without 
interfering, however, with the rapid progress 



of such as are of a more advanced age, or 
endowed with stronger or better developed 
faculties. 

The following is a list of the gifts or ma- 
terial and means of occupation in the Kinder- 
garten, each of which will be specified and 
described separately hereafter. 

There are altogether twenty gifts, according 
to Fro'bel's general definition of the term, al- 
though the first six only are usually designated 
by this name. We choose to follow the classi- 
fication and nomenclature of the great inventor 
of the system. 

LIST OF FRCEBEL'S GIFTS. 

1. Six rubber balls, covered with a net work 
of twine or worsted of various colors. 

1*. Siihere, cube and cylinder, made of wood. 

3. Large cube, consisting of eight small 
cubes. 

4. Large cube, consisting of eight oblong 
parts. 

5. Large cube, consisting of whole, half, 
and quarter cubes. 

6. Large cube consisting of doubly di\-ided 
oblongs. 

[The third, fourth, fifth and sixth gifts serve 
for building purposes.] 

7. Square and triangular tablets for laying 
of figures. 

8. Sticks for laying of figures. 

0. Whole and half rings for laying of 
figures. 

10. Material for drawing. 

11. Material for perforating. 

12. Material for embroidering. 

18. Material for cutting of paper and com- 
bining jjieces. 
14. Material for braiding. 
\b. Slats for interlacing. 
10. The slat with many links. 

17. Material for intertwining. 

18. Material for paper folding. 
I'J. Material for peas-work. 
20. Material for modeling. 



THE FIRST GIFT. 



The First Gift, which consists of six rub- 
ber balls, over-wrought with worsted, foi' the 
purpose of represeutiutj the three fimdanien- 
tal and three mixed colors, is introduced in 
this manner : — 

The children are made to stand iu one or 
two rows, with heads erect, and feet upon a 
given line, or spots marked on the floor.* 
The teacher then gives directions like the fol- 
lowing : — 

"Lift up your rhjht hands as high as you 
can raise them." 

"Take them down." 

"Lift up your hft hands." "Down." 

"Lift up both your hands." "Down." 

"Stretch forward your right hands, that I 
may give each of you something that 1 have in 
my box." 

The teacher then places a ball in the hand 
of each child, and asks: — 

"Who can tell me the name of what you 
have received ?" Questions may follow about 
the color, material, shojie, and other qualities 
of the ball, which will call forth the replies, 
blue, yellow, rubber, round, light, soft, etc. 

The children are then required to repeat 
sentences pronounced by the teacher, as — 
"The ball is round;" "■My ball is green;" ''All 
these balls are made of rubber," etc. They 
are then required to return all, except the blue 
balls, those who give up theirs being allowed 
to select from the box a blue ball in exchange ; 
so that in the end each child has a ball of that 
color. The teacher then says : "Each of you 
has now a blue, rubber ball, which is round, 
soft and light; and these balls will be your 
balls to play with. I will give you another ball 
to-morrow, and the next day another, and so 
on, until you have cjuite a number of balls, 
all of which will be of rubber, but no two of 
the same color." 

The six differently colored balls are to be 
used, one on each day of the week, which as- 
sists the children in recollecting the days of 
the week, and the colors. After distributing 
the balls, the same questions may be asked as 
at the beginning, and the children taught to 
raise and drop their hands with the balls in 
them ; and if there is time, they may make a 
few attempts to throw and catch the balls. 



This is enough for the first lesson ; and it will 
be sure to awaken enthusiasm and delight in 
the children. 

The object of the first occupation is to teach 
the children to distinguish between the right 
and the left hand, and to name the various 
colors. It may serve also to develop their vocal 
organs, and instruct them in the rules of po- 
liteness. How the latter may be accomplished, 
even with such simple occupation as playing 
with balls, may be seen from the following : — 

In presenting the balls, pains should be 
taken to make each child extend the right 
hand, and do it gracefully. The teacher, in 
putting the ball into the little outstretched 
hand, says : — 

"Charles, I place this red, (green, yellow, 
etc.,) ball into your right hand." The child 
is taught to rei)ly: — 

"I thank j-ou, sir." 

After the play is over, and the balls are to 
be replaced, each one savs, iu returning his 
ball:— 

"I place tliis red (green, yellow, etc.,) ball, 
with my right hand into the box." 

When the children have acquired some 
knowledge of the different colors, they may be 
asked at the commencement : — 

"With which ball would you like to play 
this morning — the green, red, or blue one?" 
The child will reply : — 

"With the blue one, if you please ;" or one 
of such other color as may be preferred. 

It ma}^ appear rather monotonous to some 
to have each child repeat the same phrase ; 
but it is only by constant repetition and pa- 
tient drill that anything can be learned aceu- 
ratelj' ; and it is certainly important that these 
youthful minds, iu their formative state, should 
be taught at ouee the beauty of order and the 
necessity of rules. So the left hand should 
never be employed when the right hand is re- 
cjuired ; and all mistakes should be carefully- 
noticed and corrected bj' the teacher. One 
important feature of this system is the incul- 
cation of habits of precision. 

The children's knowledge of color may be 
improved by asking them what other things 
are similar to the different balls, in respect to 
color. After naming several objects, they 

The balls 



*Less formality is now observed In many kindergartens there are no painted lines on the floor, 
are introduced in games at first and the language exercises a little later. 

Even for marching and playing of games a painted circle is found to be unnecessary. Froebel played games 
out of doors where no lines could be used. In gT.nnnasiums painted lines on the floor arc in place. 



54 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



may he made to repeat sentences like the fol- 
lowiuti : — 

"My ball is green, like a leaf." ''My ball 
is yellow, like a lemon." "Ami mine is red, 
like blood," etc. 

Whatever is pronounced in these conversa- 
tional lessons should be articulated very dis- 
tinctly and accuratelj', so as to develop the 
organs of speech, and to correct any defect 
of utterance, whether constitutional or the re- 
sult of neglect. Opportunities for phonetic and 
elocutionary practice are here afforded. Let 
no one consider the infant period as too early 
for such exercises. If children learn to sjieak 
well before tiiey learn to read, they never need 
special instruction in the art of reading with 
expression.* 

For a second play with the balls, the class 
forms a circle, after the children have received 
the balls in the usual manner. They need to 
stand far enough apart, so that eacli, with 
arms extended, can just touch his neighbor's 
hand. Standing in this position, and ha\'ing 
the balls in their right hands, the children pass 
them into the left hands of their neighbors. 
In this way, each one gives and receives a ball 
at the same time, and the left hands should, 
therefore, be held in such a manner that the 
balls can be readilj' placed in them. The arms 
are then raised over the head, and the balls 
passed from the left into the light hand, and 
the arms again extended into the first position. 
This process is repeated until the balls make 
the complete circuit, and return into the right 
hands of the original owners. The balls are 
then passed to the left in the same way, every- 
thing being done in an opposite direction. This 
exercise should be continued until it can be 
done rapidly and, at the same time, gracefully. 

Simple as this performance may appear to 
those who have never tried it, it is, neverthe- 
less, not easily done by very young children 
without frequent mistakes and interruptions. 



It is better that the children should not turn 
their heads, so as to watch their hands during 
the changes, but be guided solely by the sense 
of touch ; and to accomplish this with more 
certainty, they may be required to close their 
eyes. It is advisalile not to introduce this 
play or any of the following, uiti expertness 
is acquired in the first and simpler form. 

In the third play, the children form in two 
rows fronting each other. Those of one row 
only receive balls. These they toss to the 
opposite row : first, one by one ; then two by 
two ; finally, the whole row at once, always 
to the counting of the teacher — "one, two, 
throw." 

Again forming four rows, the children in 
the first row toss up and catch, then throw to 
the second row, then to the third, then to the 
fourth, accompanying the exercise with count- 
ing as before, or with singing, as soon as this 
can be done. 

For a further variety, the balls are thrown 
upon the floor, and caught, as they rebound, 
with the right hand or the left> hand, or with 
the hand inverted, or they may be sent back 
to the floor several times Iiefore catching. 

Throwing the balls against the wall, tossing 
them into the air and many other exercises 
may be introduced whenever the balls are used, 
and will always serve to interest the children. 
Care should be taken to have every movement 
performed in perfect order, and that every 
child take part in all the exercises in its turn. 

At the close of every ball play, the children 
occupy their original places marked on the 
floor, the balls are collected by one or two of 
the older pupils, and after this has been done, 
each child takes the hand of its opposite neigh- 
bor, and bowing, says, "good morning," when 
they march by twos, accompanied by music, 
once or twice through the hall, and then to 
their seats for other occupation. 



EDITOR'S NOTES. 



pRCEBEL originally intended this gift for use 
in the nursery when the little one was under 
the direct guidance of his mother, and for such 
use it is admirably adapted. It is probalily 
for this reason tliat so little was made of this 
gift by Prof. Wiebe, who waswi'iting for chil- 
dren of older years, such as were supposed to 

* The language exercises suggested are invaluable. 
balls which Froebel intended for the nursery 
See Education of Man, Chap. II. Sec. 29. 



be in the American kindergartens twenty-five 
years ago ; but at the present time very much 
more is made of it, and its possibilities are 
great. As a part of the system it has its place 
in the kindergarten of to-day, being invalna- 
lile, inasmuch as it teaches color, form and 
motion. While from the following series of 

They are often neglected for mere baby plays with the 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



00 



exercises we can only hint at the endless va- 
riety of games and songs that may be given 
to the children in making relations with this 
gift, the ingenuity of the kindergartner will 
suggest much by which tlie six soft balls of 
the first gift may be introduced as preliminary 
to the sohd forms of the second gift. If the 
child has had no um-sery training with the 
balls, only one should be given at a time, red 
being usually chosen. Wlien the red ball lias 
been fully introduced and the child has plaj-ed 
with it in a rhythmical way until perfect sym- 
pathy is established between him and his play- 
thing, another may be given, and so on. 
GENERAL IMPRESSION. 
The kindergartner shows the ball and intro- 
duces her obsei-vations with some fitting words, 
as : — 

How pretty is the ball. 
Now please look at it all I 
"While she distributes the balls to the chil- 
dren, who hold both hands to receive one, she 
sings : — 

First -open hands and take the ball. 
Then close the little fingers all. 
Then let each child open his hands and place 
the ball before him on the table ; call attention 
to it by saj'ing : — 

This ball of bright and colored wool. 
It looks so very beautiful. 
Examine it, bow neat, how clean. 
So should a child be ever seen. 
Ask the children if they can tell you any- 
thing about the ball. One will answer, "It is 
soft ;" "it is rough ;" "it is elastic ;" "it will 
roll," etc. Then there is something to tell 
them about tlie rubber tree* and an experience 
to gain with every moment during which the 
balls are used. 

Ask the children to rock their balls to sleep, 
making a cradle of the hands, and singing : — 
Our balls are going to Bye-low-land, 
Going to sleep in each child's liand, 
Rock them so gently to and fro. 
Our little balls to sleep must go. 
— <3r — 
A little ball is lying liere 

So quietly asleep, 
And as I rock it to and fro 
A loving watch I'll keep. 
Then, if it is not yet time to put the balls 
away, sing : — 

It likes now to be moving. 
Moving, roving, moving, roving, 
3Io\lug, rovhig so. 
Accompany the song by passing the ball 
from one hand to the other, keeping time to 

* Such instruction is best reserved for the primary 
tlon of processes for a young child. 



the music, which should always be strongly 
marked for young children. Nothing is moi-e 
harmonious or helpful in a kindergarten than 
to get hands and feet accustomed to rhj-thmi- 
cal motions. In distriliuting, if preferred, the 
balls may be called flowers, as :— 

These flowers are so bright and fair. 
Please handle them with tender care : 
And as I pass them to you all, 
Take care they do not break or fall. 
The balls may be flowers that are sleeping, 
and the chiklrsn's hands the covers ; let some 
child go around to awaken the flowers. Then 
the balls may be leaves on the trees and drop 
quietly down, the children using their arms 
held above their heads for the branches. Again, 
they may be birds, frogs, fishes, fruit, snow- 
balls to be made and thrown up and caught ; al- 
so gifts and decorations for a Christmas tree, 
some child representing the tree. 

These are but a few suggestions as to the 

various purposes for which the balls are used. 

When it is time to put the balls away, sing : — 

My ball lies in its little bed. 
So quiet and so still ; 
I'll gently rock it to and fro. 
Ami hush it well, I will. 
COLOR. 
Hold up the baU and ask the children what 
color it is, then to find something in the room 
or upon themselves of the same color, and when 
they have found several red things, give the 
name red ; but do not give the name until they 
have watched the color and proved that they 
have experienced the sensation. In teaching 
the other prismatic colors in these exercises, 
obsei-ve the same caution — let the sensation 
come before the name. Children in private 
kindergartens usually know the names of the 
colors. 

' 'Do you remember what we played in the 
ring? 'Johnny likes to wander.' Now we will 
let the red balls wander just as Johnny did." 
Give a red ball to each child next to you, and 
after it has passed two or three children start 
another, and so on. Sing : — 
The red ball loves to wander 
From one child to another. 
And to each one will saj' 'Good Day.' 
(repeat last line.) 

'•"When JNIr. Red Ball is tired we will gently 
place him on the table and let him rest, while 
we bring from the box one of his brothers. It 
is the color of a round, juicy fruit. Yes, it is 
the color of the orange, and we •will let the 

school. It is too remote and requires too much explana- 



56 



GOLDEX JUBILEE EDITION. 



orange balls wander." Compare real oranges 
with it, and let the children find orange-colored 
objects to match the orange ball. 

After each game let the children do just what 
the liall has done. At the end of auj- regular 
exercise let the children choose any of the 
games they have played. It is well to let them 
glue red autumn leaves or red kindergarten 
papers on a circular piece of cardboard, either 
white or black, twelve or fourteen inches in 
diameter. A clearer impression of form as well 
as of color will be made if the form is varied 
with the color, using for instance, a round chart 
for red, square for orange, olilong for j-ellow, 
triangular for green, pentagonal for lilue, 
hexagonal for violet and octagonal for all the 
colors. These can be fastened upon the wall 
in prismatic order.* 

Give each child tn'o round papers of the same 



Orauges ripe, oranges ripe, 
Who will buy my oranges ripe? 

A yellow ball can represent lemons, with the 
song, "Lemons ripe," etc., a green ball being 
used for apples, while the group is singing "Ap- 
ples green," and so on. Then some child is 
sent to ask for the red ball, another for the 
orange, another for the yellow, etc. This ex- 
ercise trains the attention and memory and 
teaches the children to make comparisons. For 
example : The red ball is like the cherry, the 
orange ball is like an orange, the yellow like a 
bird, the green like the leaves. 

Repeat these games and let each child have 
several counters for money, and come and buy 
a ball of the same color as the money. Or 
for an occupation to develop color. hold the balls 
before the children and let them each select the 
color they like best. After making a choice 



color. Let the children come one bv one and find give them a piece of paper of that color, also a 
n 1 'all like their papers. Pin the papers on the needle and thread. Ask them to hold the 



balls for wings, then let the children watch to 
see which bird flies up from the teacher's lap, 
and direct those who have the same color, to 
let theirs fly at tlie same time, singing : — 
"Up, up in the sky." 
Down goes the little l)ird out of sight and a 
new bird flies into the air. "Now take off the 
wings of your l)ird and they will be little balls 
again. Roll them to me, and we will let the 



bright face of the paper toward them and put 
the needle right through the middle ; then give 
each child a straw and tell them to put their 
nee'dle through the hole, then through another 
piece of paper, and so on until a long chain is 
made. These may be used for necklaces, or 
decorations for the room, etc. 

For the older children the balls ma}' be placed 
In a circle on the table and a game of hiding the 



yellow balls wander. Find other yellow things balls played. Let some child close his eyes, 
about the room. "What have you seen that is and when a ball is taken away, have the chil- 
yellow? Count the yellow balls." dren sing : — 



If in private work the kindergartner finds 
herself with children five j'ears old it may be 
l)etter to use the more mature game of fruit sell- 
ing. A bunch of balls is held up aud the chil- 



Now tell little playmate. 
Who has gone from our ring; 
Aud if you guess rightlj'. 
We'll clap as we sing. 
If the child cau tell on opening his eyes which 



dren allowed to name each one, as, red cherries, ball is missing, whether the red, orange, violet, 

yellow lemons, green apples, etc., these an- etc., the children clap their hands, at the same 

swers being drawn from the children. Then time singing, la-la-la. This game can be iu- 

a child goes down between the tallies or around troduced by playing with a group of six chil- 



the circle to sell the fruit, singing alone or 

Vi-ith the teacher : — 

Cherries ripe, cherries ripe. 
Who will buy my cherries ripe? 

and is answered by the children singing : — 
Cherries ripe, cherries rijie. 
We will buy your cherries rijie. 
Meanwhile they hold out their hands to re- 



dren instead of sis balls, and is afterward 
played with all the children in the ring. 

The balls maj' be different flowers and the 
table a garden. Interest the children by show- 
ing them some real flowers, and talking about 
them. Ask the children if they can name the 
flowers, then suggest the idea that they use the 



ceivethe ball, which the child gives to any one balls for flowers, and the table for a garden 

he pleases ; the one who receives the ball holds and have just such pretty flowers growing in 

it up and then puts it out of sight. An orange their beds. 

ball is sold by another child in the same way Gather the balls in a Inuich and holding them 

as he sings : — up ask which they will use for geraniums, which 

* Such color charts are more appropriate for the primary grades than for the kindergarten. See Chapter 
on Color in Part I. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



57 



for marigolds, which for yellow roses, green 
buds, forget-me-nots and violets, letting each 
child pick out the tiower and the ball corre- 
sponding to it in color. 

Give each child the choice of the flower 
which he would like in his garden and if the 
smaller children cannot tell it by the name, 
have them point it out among the real flowers. 
Let their hands be used as a cover for the 
flowers and when they have placed them on 
the table with the palms downward, suggest 
that they go to sleep, as the little flowers when 
planted in their beds will want to sleep soundly 
until it is warm enough to throw off their covers 
and creep out. The children may then see if 
they have in their garden the kind of flower 
which they have chosen. 

When all eyes are closed place the ball which 
is the color of the flower chosen under their 
hands. While the little plants are kept snug 
and warm have the children make a little rain 
shower with the other hand. Down the rain- 
drops gently patter, whisperiug to the sleeping 
flowers that it is time to awaken from their long 
nap. "Let us see if the violets in our gar- 
dens have heard the gentle call of the rain drops 
and are going to creep out." Hold up the real 
violet that the sense impression of violet may 
accompany the words. And presently the vio- 
let balls begin to throw oft" their covers and 
peep out and with the string held close to the 
ball are slowly raised while the teacher sings : — 

Oh, lovely little violet, 
I pray you, tell me, dear, 

Wliy you appear so early, 
Ere other flowers are here. 

The children with the violet balls answer : — 

Because I am so tiny, 

In early Maj- eonie I, 
If I come with the others, 
I fear you"d pass me by. 
(Miss Jenks's "Songs and (Tames.") 
When all the violets are in bloom let them 
bend and nod and whisper to each other, while 
the sunbeams speak to the other flowers. 

Some child is chosen for the sunbeam, and 
flits f i-om flower to flower, touching them softly 
and as they awaken one by one, the reaj flowers 
are held up that the balls may peep out and 
grow up in the same way as before. If some 
are still sleeping another child is chosen for 
the sunbe.am, and when the garden is full of 
flowers ask the children if they would like to 
make them into bouquets. Have one child take 



his violet and find all its little sisters and make 
a bouquet of violets. Another child is chosen 
to secure a bunch of marigolds ; and when the 
roses, buds, geraniums, and forget-me-nots are 
all gathered the game may be repeated. This 
time, however, have all the flowers bloom out 
together, and as they are growiug up, sing the 
second verse of ' -The Little Plant" from Emilie 
Poulssou's Finger Plays. 

Choose different children to gather the flow- 
ers this time, and make them into a wreath. 
Ask the children for the dift'erent flowers and 
as the balls are handed to you one 1i\' one, 
open the double string and loop it over the next 
ball and so on until the wTeath is complete. 
One advantage of inti'oducing more than one 
game is that of giving the children the favor 
of choosing. This should be done impartially 
and the dull, inactive children should lie drawn 
out in the same way. The teacher should gen- 
tly insist on their choosing, and the feeling 
that their choice guides the play of the others 
draws them out of ttieir isolation into the sun- 
shine of companionship. These little things in 
the hands of a skilled kindergartner who is 
working from the standpoint of the child to de- 
velop his whole being, may prevent nuich that 
is morbid and harmful. The ball is to him a 
bird, a flower, sometimes it tells one story to 
the child and sometimes another ; it is a living, 
cherished playfellow, and gradually its quali- 
ties are mastered and found in other things 
Thus the ball becomes a starting point for a 
vigorous and wholesome exercise of memory 
and imagination, and the insight of the child 
is quickened and extended. 
FORM. 

Call attention to the i-ounduess of the ball 
by saj'ing : — 

Lock at the hall from left to ria;ht, 
You'll see the same appearance (|uite; 

'Tis round, and turn it as you will 
You'll see the same appearance still. 

Have the children go through the movements 
and then ask them to name other round objects. 
A suitable story or song may be brought in. 
The ball being an unseparated whole, convej's 
the idea of unity, and may represent the world, 
an apple, a wheel, bird's nest, etc. 

Although form is very little emphasized in this 
gift,the child's obsen-ation is gained by calling 
attention to its shape and color, and his activity 
called forth by simple exercises, while his mora/ 



58 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



faculty is being developed, and his intelligence 
opened to comprehend the law nnderlying all 
life as it exists exteniallj', namelj-, that all 
the diversity of external phenomena returns to 
and rests in that which is itself a complete 
whole. 

MOTION. 

No other quality appeals more strongly to 
young children than motion, which is one of the 
chief characteristics of this gift. While every 
muscle receives exercise and strength, force 
and energy are developed, and with the alum- 
dance of inatter which comes under the notice 
of the kindei-gartner it will be easy for her to 
introduce new oliservations. AViud the string 
around the ball and roll one to each child and 
let the children tell the color as the ball rolls. 
' '"VVliat did the balls do ?" They rolled. ' 'Would 
you like to hear a song aliout rolling ?" 

Roll over, come back here 

So merry and free. 

My playfellow dear 

AVho shares iu my glee. 
Let the children on one side roll to the chil- 
dren on the other or place the hands a foot and 
a half apart and throw the ball from one to the 
other, singing ; — 

The ball desires to wander, 

To fl}' across to yonder 

Eight, left— right, left. 
Regulate the roUiug by the motion of the 
hand or by the rhythm of the song. At the 
end of the exercise let the children play the 
balls are marbles and roll down the length of 
the table, telling the color of the one they hit. 
Roll again, this time at word of command : 
"One, two, three, roll !" Vary the counting iu 
order to exercise and develop attention, and 
let each child roll to counting, as this exercise 
results in training the hand and eye, and also 
develops color as well as attention. 

Let the child take the ball in both hands and 
drop it into the hands of the next child, held 
together to receive it. Sing from Miss Jenlis's 
book : — 

Little ball, pass along, 
Gaily ou your way ;" 

While we sing a merry song. 
You must never stay, 

'Till at last the song is done. 
Then we'll try to find 

In what pair of little hands, 
You've been left behind. 
Older children may pass the liall by taking 
it in one liand, passing it to the other and from 
that placing it in the nearest hand of the next 



child, -who repeats the same movements. These 
movements require care and attention and pro- 
^•ide good exercise, but are too hard for very 
young children ; for if they are attempted they 
should be done exactly right, as indeed should 
every exercise in the kindergarten. Accuracy 
rightly developed does not interfere with the 
spirit of play which should lie kept. Children 
love to do things accurately if the requirement 
is suited to their capacity, and the kiudergart- 
ner has the right spirit. This exactness in little 
things lays the foundation for habits that are 
of great value. 

Let the balls hop from one hand (the nest) 
upon the table and sing, "Hopping Birds." 
Teach direction Ity showing how we make the 
ball sink and rise. "How does it go?" Ask 
the children to tell something that moves up 
and down, as elevator, window, curtain, etc., 
and sing : — 

Ball is sinking downward, 

Rising up again. 

Sinking, rising. 

See how the ball sinks and rises. 
— or — 

My ball comes up to meet me. 

Then down it goes so fleetly 
In the air, oh, hurrah ! 
In the air, oh, hurrah! 
Hold the ball in one hand, so that the string 
makes a vertical line. Notice things in the 
room whose position is upright, legs of piano, 
edge of door, etc. 

Tell the children about carrier pigeons, how 
they carry letters tied under their wings. Not 
a whole bag full, like the postman, but just one. 
Some one ties it under the wing and then they 
tly up high and go a long way and take it to the 
right place. Before this exercise let the chil- 
dren play "See our pretty birdie fly," in the 
ring and let them now play this with their balls. 
Let the ball fly in the air and then alight on 
the taljle before them. "What kind of a bird 
is it?" Robin Redbreast, Oriole, Canary, Par- 
rot, Bluebird, according to color. Sing: "Lit- 
tle bird, you are welcome." Let the balls of 
all colors fly up and then come to rest. Make 
a nest with both hands and sing : — 
Up, up iu the sky the little birds fly. 
Down, down iu the nest, the little birds rest. 
With a wing ou tlie left and a wing on the right. 
These dear little birdies are all safe for the night. 

Recall songs of previous exercises, and let 
the children choose which they like. Notice 
what they choose and develop conversation 
through songs and games. Ask the children 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



59 



how else or in what other direction the balls 
move. Introduce back and front movement, sing- 
ing "The Pendulum," and let the children play 
it. Ask them to show you with their lialls how 
the clock goes. "What does it say?" Tick, 
tack. "Would you like to sing about the clock ?" 
Teach and sing : "Come and see" or "To and 
Fro,"the children singing "tick, tack," only, if 
they cannot sing words readily. ' ' Can you make 
your arms go like the pendulum? Let us make 
om- arms go to the right, tick — to the left, 
tack, etc. Now make the balls swing right, 
left, tick, tack. Hold the string from left to 
right. How does the edge of the table go ?" Left 
to right. Fru-bel says : "Direction should be 
rooted iu motion." That is, the vertical move- 
ment should precede the vertical line and the 
horizontal movement the horizontal line. 

Now bring out front and back movement and 
sing : — 

Now ball swing to and fro, 
More gentlj', soft and slow. 
But far away, you cauuot stay 
Wliile swiupug to and fro. 
— or — 
Bim bom, bim bom. 
So the bells swing in the steeple. 
Call to church the kind good people. 
Bim bom, bim bom, bim bom. 

Let the children merely sing "Bim, bom." 
"Canyon make your arm go like the bell ? What 
kind of bells have you heard ? What do the 
great church bells say?" Hold the ball iu one 
hand and the end of the string in the other. 
"How does the string go?" Back and front. 

Ask the children if they would like their balls 
to go round and round. Sing "Round and 
round it goes," repeating the first line of the 
mill wheel in Mrs. Hulibard's book and swing 
the ball round and round by the string, play- 
ing the balls are mill wheels. If the time has 
come to put the lialls away sing : — 
And now 'tis time to rest. 
You've done your very best. 



Go sleep dear ball till next I call ! 
For now 'tis time to rest. 

As the ball swings round and round it may 
represent the windmill. And in this way the 
kindergartner may bring in the action of the 
wind. Ask the children to show with the 
balls and their hands the kind of work which 
the wind does. 

Let them represent the trees, with the hands 
raised above the head and a swaying motion 
of arms and hands for the branches, which wave 
and bend as the wind blows. 

Suggest that they show how the wind rocks 
the bird's nest, which may be built high up in 
the tree-tops where the little birds may come. 

Let them choose which kind of a bird they 
would like iu their nest, then with the fingers 
cui'\-ed upward to form the nest swing the balls 
one by one into their hands ; then let the wind 
gently rock the tree-tops from side to side by 
a swaying movement of the hand from right to 
left, the ball being held in the center of one 
hand while singing from Mrs. Hailmauu'a 
songs : — 

In the tall branch of tlie tree-top 
There's a nest snug and warm. 
In it lies a little birdie. 

Safe in sunshine and in storm, etc. 

Let them show how the wind plays ^ith the 
leaves, how it moves the boats across the water 
when the waves are high, how it sails the kites, 
how it blows the clothes on the line, repre- 
senting each movement with the ball held in 
the hand. 'WTien acting in uuison, the children 
will feel the harmony of a movement more 
strongly, then when acting separately ; then 
they enjoy rolling the ball from one to the 
other, throwing it up in the air, against the 
ground or wall and catching it, or by throwing 
it backward and forward to each other. These 
few hints will suffice to enable one to invent 
new plays and make suitable variations of 
those here given.* 



* Tliese simple, natural ball exercises of tossing, rolling, catching and bouncing should be permitted at recess 
times and before the hour for opening if the children come early. For such exercise, various sizes of rubber and 
celluloid balls should be used in preference to worsted balls. 



THE SECOND GIFT. 




The Second Gift consists of a sphere, a 
cube and a cylinder. 
These the teacher 
places npon the 
table, together with 
a rubber ball, and 
asks : — 

"Which of these 
three objects looks 
most like the ball?" 

The children will 
certainl}' point out 
the sphere, but, of course, without gi%'ing 
its name. 

"Of what is it made?" the teacher asks, 
placing it in the hand of some pupil or rolling 
it across the table. 

The answer will doubtless be, "Of wood." 
"So we might call the object a u-ocMlfti hall. 
But we will give it another name. We will 
call it a sphere." 

Each child must here be taught to pronounce 
the word, enunciating each sound very dis- 
tinctly. The ball and si)here are then further 
compared with each other as to material, color, 
weight, etc., to find their similarities and dis- 
similarities. Both are round: both roll. The 
ball is soft; the sphere in hard. The ball is 
li'jhf ; the sphere is hear;/. The sphere makes 
a louder noise when it falls from the taljle than 
the ball. The ball rebounds when it is thrown 
upon the floor ; the sphere does not. All 
these answers are drawn out from the i)upils by 
suitable experiments and questions and every- 
one is required to repeat each sentence when 
fully explained. 

The children then form a circle, and the 
teacher rolls the sphere to one of them, asking 
the child to stop it with lioth his feet. This 
child theu takes his place in the center, and 
rolls the sphere to another one, who again 
stops it with his feet, and so on, until all the 
children have in turn taken their place in the 
center of the circle. At another time, the 
children may sit in two rows upon the floor, 
facing each other. A white and a black sphere 
flre then given to the heads of the rows who 
exchange by rolling them across to each other. 
Then the spheres are rolled across obliquely 
to the second individuals in the rows. These 



exchange as before, and then roll the spheres 
to those who sit third, and so on until they 
have passed throughout the lines and back 
again to the head. Both spheres should be 
rolling at the same instant, which can be ef- 
fected onlj' by counting or when time is kept 
to accomi)anying music. 

Another variety of play in the use of this 
gift consists in [ilaciug the rulober ball at a 
distance on the floor, and letting each child, in 
turn, attempt to hit it with the sphere. 

For the purpose of further instruction, the 
sphere, cube, and cylinder are again placed 
upon the table, and the children are asked 
to discover and designate the points of re- 
semblance and difference in the first two. 
They will find, on examination, that both are 
made of wood, and of the same color ; but 
the sphere can roll, while the cube cannot. 
Inquire the cause for this difl:'ereuce, and the 
answer will, most likely, be either, "The sphere 
is round," or "The cube has corners." 

"How many cornei'S has the cube?" The 
children count them, and reply, "Eight." 

"If I put my finger on one of these corners, 
and let it glide down to the corner below it, 
(thus,) my finger has passed along an ed(ie of 
the cube. How many such edges can we count 
on this cube? I will let my finger glide over 
the edges, one after the other, and you may 
count." 

"One, two, three, 12." 

"Our cube, then, has eight corners, and 
twelve edges. I will now show yoil four cor- 
ners and four edges, and s.ay that this part of 
the cube, which is contained between these four 
corners and four edges, is called a side of the 
cube. Count how many sides the cube has." 

"One, two, three, four, five, six." 

"Are these sides all alike, or is one small 
and another large?" "They are all alike." 

"Then we may say that our cube has six 
sides, all alike, and that each side has four 
edges, all alike. Each of these sides of the 
cube is called a square." 

To explain the cylinder, a conversation like 
the following may take place. It will he ob- 
served that instruction is here given mainly by 
comparison, which is, iu fact, the only philo- 
sophical method. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



61 



The sphere, cube, and cyUuder are placed 
together as before, iu the presence of the chil- 
dren. They readily recognize and name the 
first two, but are iu doubt about the third, 
whether it is a barrel or a wheel. They may 
be suffered to indulge their fancy for awhile 
in finding a name for it, but are, at last, told 
that it is a cylindvr, and are taught to pro- 
nounce the word distinctly and accurately. 

"What do you see ou the cylinder which you 
also see ou the cube?" "The cylinder has two 
sides." "Are the sides square, like those of 
the cube?" "Tliey are not." 

"But the cylinder can s^tuff/ ou these sides 
just as the cube can. Let us see if it cannot 
roll, too, as the sphere does. Yes! it rolls; 
but not Hive the si>here, for it can roll only in 
two ways, while the sphere can roll any way. 
So, you see, the sphere, cube, and cylinder are 
alike in some respects, and different iu others. 
Can you tell me in what respects they are just 
alike ?" 

"They are made of wood ; are smooth ; are 
of the same color ; are heavy ; make a loud 
noise when they fall ou tlie floor." 

These answei's must be drawn out by ex- 
periments with the objects, and liy questions, 
logically put, so as to lead to these results as 
natural conclusions. The exercise may be con- 
tinued, if desirable, by asking the children to 
name objects which look like the sphere, cube, 
or cylinder. The edge of a cube may also be 
explained as representing a straight line. The 



point where two or three lines or edges meet 
is called a corner ; the inner point of a corner 
is an angle, of which each side, or square, of 
the culie has four. To sum up what has al- 
ready been taught : The culie has sis sides, 
or squares, all alike; eight corners and twelve 
edges ; and each side of the cube has four 
edges, all alike ; four corners, and four angles. 

The sphere, cube, and cylinder, when sus- 
pended by a double thread, can be made to 
rotate around themselves, for the purpose of 
showing that the sphere appears the same in 
form iu whatever manner we look at it ; that 
the cube when rotating, (suspended at the 
center of one of its sides,) shows the form 
of the cylinder ; and that the cylinder, when 
rotating, (suspended at the center of its round 
side,) presents the appearance of a sphere. 

Thus, there is, as it were, an inner triunity 
in these three objects — sphere contained in 
cjdinder, and cylinder iu cube, the cylinder 
forming the mediation between the two others, 
or the transition from one to the other. Al- 
though the child may not be told, the teacher 
may think, in this connection, of the natural 
law, according to which the fruit is contained 
in the flower, the flower is hidden iu the bud. 

Suspended at other points, cj'liuder and cube 
present other forms, all of which are interest- 
ing for the children to look at, and can be 
made instructi\e to their young minds, if ac- 
companied by apt conversation ou the part of 
the teacher. 



EDITOR'S NOTES. 



The second gift consists of a l)0x containing 
a sphere, a culie with staples, and a cylinder, 
together with sticks and an additional perfectly 
plain cube. It fulfills a varied and valuable 
office iu child education and has an iudi^^duality 
we did not find in the first gift, since each form 
is distinct from and unlike the others. 

Its strongest educational value consists in 
the fact that it represents the fundamental 
forms of tlie universe. The ball is tlie sym- 
bol of tlie earth, the sun, the moon and all the 
heavenly liodies. The cutje sjnnbolizes the min- 
eral kingdom, and connecting these is the cj'l- 
iuder, which is the prevailing type of animal 
and vegetable life. 

We find tlie sphere of this gift resembles the 
soft ball in form, and in many things which 



the ball can do, but it has additional powers ; 
it can speak to us and is permanent in form 
and material. 

Of this gift every child should have a full 
set, and as the sphere, cube and cylinder form 
a whole, they should be presented as a whole 
to the child, though in the beginning they 
may be given to him singly. The ball is first 
offered him. The child recognizes his old 
playfellow and his first thought will be that he 
has another ball, because the similar form will 
attract his attention. 

This is right and will be found to be one of 
the principles in Frcebel's system. A similar- 
ity with the pre\'ious steps may always be oli- 
served, and this gives each new step the claim 
of an old friend, enlisting feeling as well as 



62 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



thought, while presenting something In advance. 
The child vnll at once perceive, however, 
that the sphere looks, feels and sounds dif- 
ferently ; that it resists his grasp although the 
woolen ball yielded to it. Immediately he be- 
gins to make comparisons. The new ball will 
be found, unlike the previous one, to he capa- 
ble of making a noise on the table, and this 
should not be repressed too much. Children 
like to hear sounds, as they like to see and 
handle things ; and although we have learned to 
discriminate lietween noise and music, we must 
remember that children delight in noise for its 
own sake until they are led through it to rhyth- 
mical sounds and later to music ; so a little 
noise on the table vnth the sphere is legitimate 
if it is not aimless. 

THE SPHERE. 

The gift may be introduced by asking the 
children to close their eyes and placing a sphere 
in each child's hand ask for a description be- 
fore they open their eyes. "What is it like?" 
"How cioes it feel?" Give them a ball of the 
first gift and let them tell about both without 
opening the eyes. Then ask them to open their 
eyes and tell what they see. ""\Miy I that is a 
ball, too." True enough, but not like the other 
ball, so let us find out what the difference is. 

Lead the children to experiment with the 
sphere, play with it and tell you what they dis- 
cover. They will tell you that the sphere ■will 
roll, toss, swing, and that it does not easily stand 
still. Give them hard and soft spheres, smooth 
and rough spheres, spheres of different sizes 
and colors and draw out their comparisons. 

After the children have made their discoveries 
and comparisons let them look about the room 
for similar forms, and also ask them to bring 
similar forms from home. These lessons on 
solid fonns give scope for much general in- 
formation.* Little talks about the wood, where 
it comes from, etc., may become a part of the 
work, suggesting many pretty songs. 

If the three forms are brought out at one time 
they may be called three little friends who live 
together in a long, brown house, which is just 
large enough for them to get inside, each in his 
own place and close the door. 

Ask questions to develop the children's ideas ; 
who these people are, what they are like, what 
they can do, and so on. Then bring the sphere 
from the box. The first thing the children wUl 

* There is a tendency to give too mucli instruction about the origin and manufacture of materials in the 
kindergarten. This instruction should be limited and reserved in main for the primary grades. 



want to do is to pound or make a noise. Do 
not restrain the action hut as one kindergartner 
suggests, play concert, be their bandmaster 
and count for them. "All lift up the balls, 
one — two — knock ; one — two — three — knock," 
and so on, putting a definite thought into an 
indefinite action. 

Ask the children what they have played with 
the soft balls. Repeat the games as the chil- 
dren name them, until they have thought of 
what they played, and play these games with 
the sphere. 

Their imagination changes the sphere into 
many new things. It is the carpenter's 
hammer or the blacksmith's sledge. It is a 
swift horse or a capering dog ; not now so 
often the tiny bird, but something with more 
strength and ^"^gor, yet still full of life and 
acti%ity. 

Let a sphere run to Robbie ; now one to 
jNIary . Bring out the fact that it goes over and 
over and rolls because it is round. After having 
given frequent illustrations of the roundness of 
the ball the name sphere is inti'oduced. Ask 
the children to name something that goes round 
and round, and let them spin, roll and swing 
the sphere. Notice that "in every place, it 
always shows its one cm'%-ed face." Let the 
sphere swiug from left to right, repeating the 
exercise the children had with the ball of the 
first gift. 

Give spheres to the children who are sitting on 
one side of the table to roU to those on the 
other side, while they all sing, "Roll over, 
come back here, so meiTy and free ;" or "One, 
two, three, roll." Repeat the songs, letting 
some have the hard and some have the soft 
balls, exchanging them so that each ma}- have 
both kinds. At the end of the exercise com- 
pare the two, thus bringing out the quality of 
sonorousness. 

They find in this gift something that speaks 
to them, for after the motion of an object the 
sound which it makes is next noticed and it is 
this quality which gives its special charm to the 
sphere. To bring out sound especially, tap the 
soft ball on the table and let some child answer 
good morning to it and guess who it is ; then 
tap the hard ball and let another child answer 
this time, and guess who it is ; knock in dif- 
ferent parts of the room, on different articles. 

To connect the two gifts sing, while hold- 
ing the soft ball by the string : — 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



53 



Here's a little kitty, 

Goiug rouud aiMl rouud ; 
She has ousliioiis on her feet, 

And never makes a sound. 
With the hard ball sing : — 

Here's a little pony, 

Trotting rouud and round ; 
He has hoofs upon his feet. 

And stamps upon the ground. 

Let the children roll iu turn a soft ball and 
the sphere to hit another ball at the end of the 
table. It will be enough for very little chil- 
dren to get an experience of the difference in 
the rolling of the two lialls. Older children 
should be led to see and tell you that it is be- 
cause the sphere is hard that it rolls Ijetter 
than the ball. This will make a foundation 
for the understanding of resistance when they 
study physics. Let the children come to you 
and roll the sphere in a plate. Sing for them 
"Round I roll when iu a plate," then let them 
roll it along the length of the table and sing : — 

Xow along the table straight, 

When I rest, or roll or fall, 

Always I'm your little ball. 

The spheres can be nuts for the tree and so 
connected with the winter fireside or the Christ- 
mas time. A little skill keeps up the connec- 
tion with the special season of the j-ear and 
with the pre\-ious work. 

In playing the "Fruit Game" substitute nuts 
for the fruit, as : — 

'•Who will buy, who will buy. 
Who will buy our walnuts ripe?"' 

Let the children sell different kinds of nuts, 
and then try to find the liuyer, which gives a 
test of memory, with no color to aid, although 
the children seldom fail to find them all. Repeat 
the games with ball and sphere surticieutly often 
to keep the connection. The number of times 
and amount of pleasure given Ijy them will lie 
in proportion to the interest and resources of 
the kindergartuer. 

THE CUBE. 

After you have taught all you cau from 
the sphere give each child the cube. Some 
one asks, "Why not the cylinder, as it is more 
like the ball ?" Because it is similar is just 
the reason it is not presented next. All knowl- 
edge is based on comparison, but a compari- 
son is not possible without differences and 
conti'asts. The simplicity and unity which 
characterize the sphere are replaced by variety 
and umltiplicity in the cube and the decided 



contrast between the two will give the child a 
clearer impression, so that when he receives 
the cube he will again make comparisons. 

Call for similarities first, differences after- 
ward. Both are hard, smooth, made of wood, 
and of the same color. Let each child try to 
roll the cube, and he will see it will stand firmly 
but cannot roll, although the sphere readily 
obeyed the slighest impulse to move. The 
cube, standing solidly on one face refusing to 
roll or to yield to anything Init force, opens 
a new world to him. It suggests big stones, and 
foundations for ground work. It is the type 
of the mineral world and possesses solidity and 
seciu-ity. Hence iu piling up the forms the 
child almost invariably places the cube at the 
bottom, needing no suggestion as to its proper 
position. 

In comparing the two, the child finds that 
the sphere has one round face, while the cube 
has many faces ; that the culie has edges and 
corners, which the Ijall has not ; the ball gives 
the idea of motion and the cube of rest ; the 
ball may be placed in a stationary position at 
any point, the cube -nill only rest on its faces. 

Place a cube before each child near the front 
of the table, and ask the children how many 
faces they see ; of course they can only see the 
one directly under their eyes. Move the cube 
back and ask again. They will see two faces. 
Let them ttirn their heads a little and hold 
perfectly still. Ask once more and they will 
say three faces. Lead them to realize that 
they cau only see three faces at one time. A 
large paper culie suspended iu the room with 
opposite faces of different colors will help the 
children to appreciate this fact. Ask them to 
bring things into the kindergarten which are like 
the cube inform. 

Give each child six parquetry papers, two of 
one color ; for instance, two red, two orange, 
tn'O green. Make the face of the culie quite 
wet with a camel's ban- brush and water, and 
let each child put on a red paper. Let him 
find the opposite side and put on the other red 
paper. Put on the orange and green in the 
same way, taking the faces in twos ; the upper 
and lower first, then the front and back, then 
the right and left. If the child is too young to 
count the faces he will get an experience of 
many and opposite faces. The older children 
can count the faces without confusion, with the 
help of the opposite color, or they can roll the 



64 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



sphere and mark with chalk each one of the six 
square, flat faces, as they find and count them. 

Let each cliild roll one sphere in turn and try 
to strike the cube at the other end of the table. 
"On what does the cube stand?" On one of 
its faces. Give the older children the name 
flat face and cuixed face. "How many faces 
has the cube?" Six. "How many faces has 
the sphere?" One. "What kind of faces 
has the cube?" "What kind of a face has the 
sphere?" Let each child come to you in turn 
and shutting his eyes, tell by feeling whether 
it is a curved or a flat face he is touching. 

In the games the peculiar characteristics of 
the sphere and cube may be brought out by 
their movableness and steadfastness. The 
directions indicated through motion in the first 
gift are here fonud to be permanent in the faces 
and edgesof the cube, and are easily recognized. 

The cul.ie may be a little house and the 
sphere a little boy who lives in it. Let the 
sphere run to this side of the house and knock, 
and now at this, and then this, and this, (four 
sides). Now we will put him on the top of 
the house. Then take the boy away and lift 
up the house to find one more side. Count the 
sides as you strike them. "What else can we 
find on the cube?" Bring out corners and 
edges by letting each child make a little dent 
on his hand with the corner of the cube, and 
a little crease with the edge. Ask the children 
if they can dent or crease their hands with the 
sphere. Ask them to show j-ou all the corners 
and edges they can without counting. If the 
children are very j'oung or very backward give 
them a clear idea of corners by letting a child 
stand in the corner of the room, and give each 
child a little seed to put in the corner of his 
cube, then one for the opposite corner, and so 
on. The six sides, eight corners and twelve 
edges appear a world of study to the children 
and give the foundation for number work. 

Thus far the child has seen the cube in a 
state of rest. It will cause him more lively 
pleasure to note the peculiarities of its free 
motions. Suspend the cube and ask how many 
<'aces the cube has. If one child can answer, 
let him come up and spin the culje while the 
others sing to the air of "Be quiet dear cube," 
in Mrs. Hubbard's book : — 
My six, square, flat faces are ruiming away. 
And chasing each other around in their play. 
Come back little faces, come back and stand still, 
And now you may run ott'again if you will. 



The children call this singing the cube, and 
the desire to come up and spin the culie stim- 
ulates them to make an effort to remember the 
number of faces. If there is time finish with 
a rolling exercise. This dialogue between the 
cube and the child may be sung for many 
exercises until the number and kind of faces 
are firmly fixed. Those children who do not 
spin the cube may roll two spheres along the 
table to hit the cube. 

When the number of faces are fixed, the 
corners may be sung to the same tune : — 
My eight little corners are running away. 
And chasing each other around in tlieir play. 
Come back little corners, come haelc and standstill, 
And then you may run ofl' again if you will. 

This rolling may be used for several lessons 
until the children are sure of the number of 
corners, then the edges may be brought out by 
singing, "My twelve little edges are running 
away," etc. 

While the sphere always presents one and 
the same appearance, the cube shows a marked 
difference of form with each movement. If a 
string is fastened to one corner or the middle 
of any edge and the cube is twirled, it has the 
appearance, viewed from the side, of a double 
cone, or, as the children would call it, a top. 
When looked down upon, its edges and cor- 
ners seem to slip awaj' and we see a point in 
the center surrounded by a circle. When 
whirled from the center of a face the cylin- 
drical form is shown, with a shadowy circle out- 
side. All these peculi.arities will be brought 
out under the child's notice while playing with 
the cube. 

THE CYLINDER. 

When the wonder and pleasure of the cube 
have been indulged in long enough, add the 
cylinder, or as the children call it, the "roller." 
"What can the sphere do?" "What can the 
cube do?" "Did you ever see anything that 
could roll and stand too ?" Bring out the cyl- 
inder. It may be introduced as a cousin. Roll 
one to each child and let him tell wherein the 
cylinder resembles its cousins. This form will 
also make a noise and is in color like the sphere 
and cube. It will roll like the ball because it 
has one round face ; it will stand or rest like 
the cube because it has flat faces. While the 
ball rests on a point, and the cube on a face, 
the cylinder can rest either on a face or a line. 
The cylinder has two curved edges, but no 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



65 



corners. Let the cbildren show faces and 
edges. Roll it and then let it stand. Count 
one, two, three, and let each child roll his cyl- 
inder to you. Notice flat and curved faces. 
Let the childreu show you a flat face — a curved 
face. "How many flat faces are there ?" "How 
many cuiwed faces ?" "Can you put your Au- 
ger along a line on the curved face r" The 
outlines of the flat faces form circles. If the 
finger is passed around the cun-ed face a circle 
is made, but by passing it up and down we get 
a straight line. 

Let each cliild have a sphere to compare with 
the cylinder. "Can you find a straight lino on 
the sphere's curved face?" Suggest that he 
close his eyes, and taking his finger see if he 
can tell whether he is touching the sphere's 
cm'ved face, or the cylinder's curved face. 
Let each child in turn roll the cylinder and ball 
to hit the cube. Ask the childreu to bring things 
from home like the cylinder, and to tell all the 
reasons why it is a cylinder ; also when they 
bring anything like the sphere and cube to tell 
why it is a sphere or a cube. 

Let the children come to you and find things 
among those they have lirought, or that you 
have collected, that look like the sphere, the 
cube or the cylinder; also let the older chil- 
dreu tell you what they can see from the win- 
dow that is like either of these forms. 

As soou as the child becomes familiar with 
these foruis they will liecome to him types of 
the life around him. He is very quick to ob- 
serve how everything can be classified under 
one of these three forms ; thus the ti'iune law 
of all growth is revealed to him, luitil gradually 
it dawns upon him that these objects are con- 
nected by having properties in common, and 
out of this feeling develops the perception of 
unity in the midst of diversity. As the cyl- 
inder seems to have been left in a somewhat 
isolated position, it is well to attract as much 
attention as possible to this object, a more ex- 
tensive use of which, will be brought out in 
the fifth gift B. 

The forms of the second gift are provided with 
staples in which strings may lie inserted, and 
the object suspended by holding the ends of 
the string between the thumb and fingers. 
Twist the string, and let the child hold it while 
it revolves ; he will be delighted to see one form 
merge into another, and finally come back to 
the first form. By holding an eud in each hand, 



and skillfully pulling them apart, revolving the 
form as the string untwists, and then allowing 
the impetus of the form to twist the string as 
it is slackened, so that l)y repeating the opera- 
tion a rapid rotary motion may be produced, 
first in one direction and then in the other, 
curious semi-transparent shapes may be seen 
which will create an interest in geometrical 
forms. The cube seems to change into a cyl- 
inder, a double cone, or a cj'liuder and wheel ; 
the cyhnder is a sphere witliin a sphere or a 
double cone in a sphere and wheel, and thus 
the child learns that things in motion seem very 
ditfei'ent from what they really are. Suspend 
a cube from its face with a double string and 
spin it. "How does the cube look now?" Like 
a cylinder or roller. "Now that it stops what 
does it look like ?" Like the cube. "Now it 
spins again ; what does it look like ?" Sing to 
the tune of "Buy a broom" : — 
Oh, say Mr. Culie what now are you hiding, 
^\'hat now are you hiding this nioruiug from me? 
I'll let you go flyiug,and tlien I'll be spying, 
What it is you are hiding this morning from me. 
'Tis the roller ! 'Tis the roller ! 
'Tis the roller j'ouare hiding this morning from me. 

Let two children come up and spin the ball, 
singing, "Round goes the ball, but in every 
place." Let two more come and spin the culje, 
singing, "Oh, say Mr. Cube what are you hid- 
ing ?" Let two more come and see what the 
roller hides. Sing : — 

Here the roller comes with its faces three, 
la-la-la-la-la. 

He is just as sober as he can be, 
la-la-Ia-la-la. 

But when he is whirling, his faces grow thin. 

And show the little hard ball within, 
la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la. 
(Thismay be sung to "Vive la Companee,"' a col 
lege song.) 

If the cylinder is twirled from the middle 
of a curved face, a ball is seen with a shadowy 
rim around it. If twirled from the middle of 
a flat face, a double cone appears, when viewed 
from the side ; when looked down upon, a ball 
flattened at the top, accompanied by a shadowy 
rim is seen. If twirled from the edge of a flat 
face a cone appears from the side, a ball from 
above. Thus the ball is seen in the cylinder, 
the cylinder in the cube, and the double cone in 
both cube and cylinder. This finding of one 
form within another lirings out the unity of the 
second gift. 

Instead of using the double string a rod may 
be passed through tlie holes in the cylinder and 



66 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



cube. Have the rod liliiutly pointt'd at both 
ends, and with one end on the table, hold the 
top end with the finger resting on it, and im- 
part a rotary motion to the form by impulses 
from the finger of the other hand. Several of 
these forms are shown in Figs. 1-5. 

Fio'. 1, represents the cube with the axis 
thi-ougb the center of oiiposite faces. 

Fig. 2, the cube with the axis through diag- 
onally opposite corners. 





i 

Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fig- 3. 

Fig. 3, the cube as rotated on an axis pass- 
ing tbrough the centers of two diagonally op- 
posite edges. 




Fig. 4. Fig. 5. 

Fig. 4, shows the cylinder as lieing rotated 
on a rod perpendicular to the center of its natu- 
ral axis. 

Fig. .5, represeuts the rotating cyhnder with 
the axis diagonally through from edge to edge. 
An interest in form inspired in this way, may 
lead to later investigation into the mysteries of 
the sciences, results of which eternity aloue can 
measure. Do not make the child weary with this 
gift. Rolling the ball and C3'lindcr may always 
be brought in to relieve monotouy if necessary. 

A sequence of lessons on bread-making may 
be given, after the child has become familiar 
■with various seeds and the processes of plough- 
ing, planting, reaping, etc., until finally the 
baker makes the bread ; the sphere, cube and 
cjdinder playing their part as raindrops, store- 
house, seeds, plough, millwjieels, fiour barrel, 
rolling pin and other well-kuowu forms. 



This gift proves most instructive if the sphere, 
cyhnder and culje are given all at once. They 
may be placed side l»j' side, or as in Fig. 6, 
producing a column, which arrangement is em- 
bodied iu the two Frabel memorial stones. 




t 



Fig. 6. 

After the three forms have been enjoyed to- 
gether place them iu the box which may be 
given to the children and anuch pleasure derived 
from its examination. The shape of the box 
will be noticed, and the different ways of plac- 
ing it, so that the length will be from back 
to front, from right to left, and up and down. 
But the height of joy is iu the possession of 
such treasures as lie in the liox. The friends 
he has known so intimatelj' lie there together, 
the ball alwaj-s at the "door end," as he calls 
it, of the box, which should always be placed 
at the right hand, the cube at the left and the 
roller iu the middle. The other cube with 
"something the matter with its corners" and 
its edges is such a study ; but it does not take 
the average child long to find that the little 
rattan in the box will just fit in the holes 
through the cube, or to notice that if he ouly 
had a string he could put it through the little 
"rings" that he sees. He makes one discovery 
after another, and when he finds that the two 
round sticks fit into the holes (which were be- 
fore a mystery) iu the lid of the box, and that 
the square stick goes on the top of these, a new 
world is surely discovered by each little Col- 
umbus. The box may 1ie fitted up with paper 
sails for a boat, loaded with cylinders for bar- 
rels, cubes for boxes of freight and spheres for 
fruit, or it may be loaded with different things, 
as seeds, plants, vegetables, etc., according 
to the season. 

The boxes may be turned down on the side 
as oveus, aud the lids placed on the table as 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



67 



kneading boards ; the preforated cube can be 
used for a stove, with a stick for the pipe ; the 
plain cube for tlie kitcheu table ; the cylinder 
for a Itarrel of flour ; or by putting a round 
stick through the hole it may be used for a 
rolling pin ; the sphere may lie a turkey or ap- 
ple dumpliugs ; other cubes may be used for 
bread, and cylinders for jelly rolls ; then when 
all are ready, put them in the oven for baking. 
In using the same form to represent different 
things in a play, do not fear that there will be 
any incongruity, pro\nded the suggestion conies 
from the children, and the objects symbolized 
are closely related iu thought, for the child's 
imagination is so free that he can clothe and 
re-clothe the same form with new life. The 
sense impressions which come from tracing re- 
semblances and differences, experimeuting and 



handling, will give a familiarity with the forms 
and their relation to each other, which no ab- 
stract lesson on surfaces, edges and corners 
could afford. The windmills, water-wheels, 
steamboats, wagons, and engines conceived 
and run l)y unconscious inventors and master 
workmen — especially when one little fellow 
finds out something new he can do with his 
treasures, and imparts it to the eager group — 
are a marvel and joy to any real kindergartner. 
No such wealth of resources to cultivate imagi- 
nation and inspire confidence is found in any 
other gift as in this, which was an especial 
favorite with Frcebel, and is so invaluable that 
no kindergartner who has once shared the de- 
light of the children iu this gift for one year 
in the kindergarten course, wiU ever be willing 
to do without a box for each child.* 



The 



* The present editor believes with many that too much has been made of the s\Tnbolism of this gift, 
development of plays with the whole gift including the box is excellent and we recommend it heartily. 

The difficulty for caring for large quantities of boxes in our public schools as well as the expense is to be 
considered in ordering. Each child may use the whole gift in turn, if the kindergarten is taught in groups. 
A dozen gifts will then suffice for a kindergarten. 



THE THIRD GIFT. 



This cousists of a cube ^^i^•iat■^^ into (^iijJd 
9maUei' one-inch inbes. 

A prominent desire in tlie miud of every 
child is to (livid' things, in order to examine 
Jie parts of which they consist. This natural 
instinct is observable at a very early period. 
The little one tries to change its toy by break- 
ing it, desirous of looking at its inside, and is 
sadly disappointed in finding itself incapable of 
reconstructing the fragments. Frcebel's Third 
Gift is founded on this observation. In it the 
child receives a whole, whose parts he can 
easily se;)«/'a?e, Ana pxit together miain at pleas- 
ure. Thus he is able to do that which he 
could not in the case of the toys — restore to its 
original form that which was broken— making 
a perfect whole. And not only this — he can 
use the parts also for the construction of other 
^choJes. 

The child's first plaything, or means of oc- 
cuiiation, was the ball. Next came the sphere, 
similar to, yet so different from the ball. Then 
followed ciihe and cylinder, both, in some points 
resembling tlie sphere, yet each having its 
own peculiarities, which distinguish it from 
the sphere and ball. The pupil, iu receiving the 
cube, divisible into eight smaller cubes, meets 
with friends, and is delighted at the multipli- 
city of the gift. Each of the eight parts is 
precisely like the whole, except in point of 
size, and the child is immediately struck with 
this quality of his first toy for hidlilinr/ pur- 
poses. By simply looking at this gift, the pu- 
pil receives the ideas of whole and part — of 
form and comparative size; and by dividing 
the cube, is impressed with the relation of one 
part to another in regard to position and order 
of movements, thus learning readily to com- 
prehend the use of such terms as above, below, 
before, behind, right, left, etc., etc. 

With this and all the following gifts, we 
'Droduce what Fra?bel calls ./br?Hs of life, forms 
of knowledge , and/o/'ws of beauty. 

The first are representations of ol.ijects 
which actually exist, and which come under 
our common observation, as the works of hu- 
man skill and ait. The second are such as 
afford inslructiou relative to number, order, 
proportion, etc. The third are figures repre- 
senting only idecd forms, yet so regularly con- 



structed as to present perfect models of sym- 
metry and order iu the arrangement of the 
parts. Thus in the occupations connected 
with the use of these simple building blocks, 
the child is led into the living world — there 
first to take notice of objects by comparison ; 
then to learn something of their properties by 
induction, and lastly, to g.ather into his soul 
a love and desire for the beautiful by the con- 
templation of those forms which are regular 
and symmetrical. 

THE PRESENTATION OF THE 
THIRD GIFT. 

The children having taken their usual seats, 
the teacher addresses them as follows : — 

"To-day, we have something new to play 
with." 

Opening the package and displaying the 
box, he does not at once gratify their curi- 
osity by showing them what it contains, but 
commences by asking the cpiestion : — 

"Which one of the three objects we played 
with yesterday does this box look like?" 

They answer readily, "The cube." 

"Describe the box as the cube has been 
described, with regard to its sides, edges, 
corners, etc." 

Wheu this has been satisfactorily done, the 
box is placed inverted upon the table and the 
cover removed by drawing it out, which will 
allow the cubes to stand on the table. Lift- 
ing the box carefully, so that the contents 
may remain entire as in Fig. 1, the teacher 
asks : — 

"AVhat do you see now?" 

The answer is as before, "A cube." 




Fig. 1. 
One of the scholars is told to push it across 
the table. In so doing, the parts will be likely 
to become separated, and that which was pre- 
viously whole will lie before them in frag- 
ments. The children are permitted to ex- 
amine the small cubes ; and after each one of 
them has had one iu his hand, the eight cubes 
ai'e returned to the teacher who remarks : — 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



69 



"Children, as we have broken the thing, we 
must try to mend it. Let us see if we can put 
it together as it was before." 

This ha\ing been done, the boxes are then 
distributed among the children, and they are 
practiced in removing the covers, and taking 
out the cube without destroying its unity. 
They will find it difficult at first, and there 
will be many failures. But let them continue 
to try until some, at least, have succeeded, 
and then proceed to another occupation. 
PREPARATION FOR COXSTRUCTING 
FORMS. 

The surface of the tables is covered with a 
net work of lines, forming squares of one-iuch. 
A space including a definite number of squares 
is allotted to each pupil. In these first conver- 
sational lessons, the children must be taught 
to point out the right upper corner of their 
table space, the left upper, the right and left 
lower, the upper and lower edges, the right 
and left edges, and the center. With little 
staffs, or sticks cut at convenient lengths, they 
may indicate direction, by laying them upon 
the table in a line from left to right, covering 
the center of the space, or extending them 
from the right upper to the left lower edge 
covering the center ; then from the middle of 
the niiper edge to the middle of the lower edge, 
and so on. The teacher must be careful to use 
terms that can be easily comprehended, and 
a\T)id changing them in such a way as to pro- 
duce any ambiguity in the mind of the child. 

Here, as in the more advanced exercises, 
everything should be done with a great deal 
of precision. The children must understand 
that order and regularity in all the perform- 
ances are of the utmost importance. The 
following will serve as an illustration of the 
method : The children having received the 
boxes, they ai-e required to place them exactly 
in the center of their spaces, so as to cover 
four squares. Then take hold of the box with 
the right hand and inverting it upon the table 
remove the cover with the left hand by draw- 
ing it out from beneath. The right hand is 
used to raise the box carefully from its place 
and eight small cubes will stand in the center 
of the space forming one large cube. Lastly 
the cover is placed in the box and the box 
placed in the upper corner of the space allotted 
to the child. 

At the close of any play, when the materials 
are to be retm-ned to the teacher, the same 



minuteness of detail nuist be observed as fol- 
lows : — 

Replace the box over the cubes, and draw 
toward the edge of the table ; then slip the 
cover beneath, reverse the bo'x and replace 
the cover. 

These are processes which must be r-cpeated 
many times before the scholar can acquire ex- 
pertness. 

FORMS OF LIFE. 

The boxes being opened as directed, and 
the cubes upon the center squares — in each 
space — the question is asked : — 

"How many little cubes are there ?" "Eight." 

"Count them, placing them in a row from 
left to right," (or from right to left). 

"What is that?" "A row of cubes." 



Fig. 2. 
It may bear any apjiropriate name which 
the children give it — as "a train of cars," "a 
company of soldiers," "a fence," etc. 

"Now count your cubes once more, 
placing them one upon another. What 
have you there?" 

"An upright row of eight cubes." 
"Have you ever seen anything stand- 
ing like this upright row of cubes ?" 
"A chimney." "A steeple." 
"Take down your cubes, and build 
two upright rows of them — one square 
apart. What have you now?" 

"Two little steeples," or "two 
chimneys." 

Fig. 3. Thus, with these eight cubes, many 
forms of life can be built under 
the guidance of the teacher. It 
is an important rule in this occu- 
pation, that nothing should be 
rudely destroyed which has been 
constructed, but each new fonn 
is to be produced by slight 
change of the preceding one. 

A number of these forms are given below. 
They are designated by Fro?bel as follows : — 





h 



'• — 


' 




\ 






\ 












1 



Fig. 4. 




Fig. .5. 
Cube or Kitchen Table. 



70 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



Fig. C. 



Fii-eplace. 



,/^-r 



Grandpa's Chair. 



Fig. 



r^ 



m 



w 



Fig. 8. 
Grandpa's aud Grandma's Chairs. 





1 










i 


1 


fe^ / 


I 











Fig. 9. 
A Castle with two towers. 



^^__ 


1 






1 


i 


1 






1 



A Stronghold. 



Fig. 10. 



/■ / / / 



A Wall. 



Fig. 11. 



^ y Ji 




I 




1 




1 




i 



Fig. 12. 



A High Wall. 





1 



3 



Fig. 13. 



Two Columns. 










Fig. 14. 
A Large Column, witli two memorial stones. 




Fig. 15. 



Signpost. 



f-\ 




/ 











Fig. 16. 



Cross. 





Fig. 17. 



Two Crosses. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



71 




Fig. 18. 
Cross, with pedestal. 




Fig. 19. 



Monument. 



A 




Fig. 20. 



Sentry-box. 



dC y" 



Fig. 21. 



A WeU. 



Fia. 22. 



City Gate. 




Fig. 23. 



Triumphal Arch. 




Fig. 24. 

City Gate, with tower. 



















1 






1 



Fig. 25. 



Chui-ch. 




Fig. 26. 



City HaU. 





%\ 




i 








i 








1 



Fig. 27. 



Castle. 



Fig. 28. 



A Locomotive. 




Fig. 29. 



Euin. 



72 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 







. J 




i % 


1 



Fig. 30. 
Bridge with Keeper's House. 




Fig. 31. 
Two Rows of Trees. 



l^ 




Fig. 32. 
Two Long Logs of Woo(L 



Fig. 33. 



A Piatfo 



Fig. 34. 
Two Small Logs of Wood. 



^^S 



Fig. 35. 
Foui' Garden Benches. 




Fig. 36. 



Stairs. 











1 








f 


L 






1 


f 




1 




ft 







Doulile Ladder. 



Fig. 37. 







i 


/ 




%- 




I 



t 



Fig. 38. 
Two Columns on pedestals. 



,,'^ =f 



/ y / 



Well-trouoh. 



Fio;. 39. 



u 



J , \ \ - ^ 



Bath. 



Fig. 40. 



A Tunnel. 



Fig. 41. 



^ 



Easy Chair. 



Fig. 42. 



H 



I 



Fig. 43 
Bench with back. 



Cube. 



Fig. 44. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



73 



Several of the uames iu this list represent 
olijectjs which, being more specifically German, 
will not be recognized by the children. Ruins, 
castles, sentry-boxes, signposts, perhaps they 
have never seen ; but it is easy to tell them 
something about these objects which will in- 
terest them. They will listen with pleasure to 
short stories, narrated by way of explanation, 
and thus associating the story with the form, 
be able, at another time, to reconstruct the 
latter while they repeat the former iu their own 
words. It is not to be exjtected, however, that 
teachers in this country should adhere closely 
to the list of Frojbel. They may, with advan- 
tage, vary the forms, and if they choose, affix 
other names to those given in these pages. It 
is well sometimes to adopt such designations 
as are suggested liy the children themselves. 
The}' will be found to be quite apt iu tracing 
resemblances between their structures and the 
objects with which they are familiar. 

In order to make the occupation still more 
useful, they should be required also to point 
out the dissimilarities existing between the 
form and that which it represents. 

It is proper to allow the child, at times, to 
viveiit forms, the teacher assisting the fantasy 
of the little Imihler iu the work of construct- 
ing, and iu assigning names to the structure. 
AVheu a figure has been found and named, 
the child should be required to take the blocks 
apart, and build the same several times iu 
succession. Older and more advanced scholars 
suggest to younger and less able oues, and 
the latter will be found to appreciate such help. 

It is a common observation, that the younger 
children in a family develop more rapidlj' than 
the older ones, since the fonher are assisted iu 
their mental growth liy companionship with the 
latter. This benefit of association is seen more 
fully in the Kindergarten, under the judicious 
guidance of a teacher who knows how to en- 
courage what is right, and check what is wrong, 
in the disposition of the children.* 

It should be remarked, in counectiou with 
these directions, thatiu the use of this and the 
succeeding gift it is essential that all the blocks 
should be used in the building of each figure, 
in order to accustom the child to look upon 
things as mutually related. There is nothing 
which has not its appointed place, and each 
part is needed to constitute the whole. For ex- 
ample, the well-trough (Fig. 39) may be built 
of six cubes, but the remaining two should rep- 

* See the Kindergarten Creed. 



resent two pails with which the water is con- 
veyed to the trough. 

FORMS OF KNOWLEDGF.t 

These do not represent objects, either real 
or ideal. They instruct the pupil concerning 
the properties and relations of numbers, by 
a particular arranging and grouping of the 
blocks. Strictly speaking, the first effort to 
count, by laying them on the table one after 
another, is to be classed under this head. The 
form thus produced, though varied at each 
trial, is one of the forms of knowledge, and 
by it the child receives its first lesson iu 
arithmetic. 

Proceeding further, he is taught to add, 
always by using the cubes to illustrate the 
successive steps. Thus, having placed two of 
the blocks at a little distance from each other 
on the table, he is caused to I'epeat, "One and 
one are two." Then placing another upon the 
table, he repeats, "One and two are three," 
and so on, until all the blocks are added. 

Subtraction is taught in a similar manner. 
Having placed all the cubes upon the table, 
the scholar commences taking them off, one 
at a time, repeating, as he does this, "Oue 
from eight leaves seven;" "One from seven 
leaves six," and so on. 

According to circumstances, of which the 
Kindergartner, of course, will be the best 
judge, these exercises may be continued fur- 
ther, by adding and subtracting two, three 
and so on ; but care should always be taken 
that no new step be made until all that has 
gone before is perfectl}' understood. 

With the more advanced classes, exercises 
in multiplication and division may be tried, 
bj' grouping the blocks. 

The division of the large cube, to illustrate 
the principles of proportion, is an interesting 
and instructive occupation ; and we will here 
proceed to give the method in detail. 

The children have their cube of eight be- 
fore them on the table. 




Fig. 45. 

The teacher is also furnished with one am? 
lifting the upper half asks : — 

t See chapter on Less Mathematics. 



74 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 




"Two halves — one whole." 

Agaiu, each half is di\ided, as shown in 
Figs. 49, 50 and 51. The children are required 
to repeat during these occupations : — 



Fig. 46. 

•'Did I take the whole of my cube in my 
hand, or did I leave some of it on the table?" 

"You left some on the table." 

"Do I hold in my hand more of my cube 
than I left on the table, or are both parts 
alike ?" 

"Both are alike." 

"If things are alike, we call them equal. 
So I divided my cube into two equal parts, 
and each of these equal parts I call a half. 

AVhere are the two halves of my cube ?" 

"One is in your hand ; the other is on the 
table." 

"So I have two half cubes. I will now 
place the half which I have in my hand upon 
the half standing on the table. "What have I 
now ?" 

"A whole cube." 
The teacher, then separating the cube again 
into halves, by drawing four of the smaller 
cubes to the right and four to the left asks : — 




Fig. 47. 

"What have I now before me?" 

"Two half cubes." 

"Before, I had an tipper and a lower half. 

Now, I have a right and a left half. Uniting 
the halves agaiu I have once more a whole." 

The scholars are taught to repeat as follows, 
■while the teacher di\'ides and unites the cubes in 
both ways, also as represented in Fig. 48 : — 




Fig. 48. 
"One whole — two halves. 




Fig. 4'J. 




Fis. 50. 




Fig. 51. 

"One whole — two halves." 

"One half — two quarters (or foiuths)." 

"Two cjuarters — oue half." 

"Two halves — one whole." 

After these processes are fully explained 
and the principles well understood by the 
scholars, they are to try their hand at divid- 
ing of the cube — first, iudi%'idually then all 
together. If they succeed, they may then be 
taught to separate it into eighths. It is n' I 
ad\isable in all cases, to proceed thus far. 




Fig. 52. 

Children under four years of age should be 
restricted, for the most part to the use of the 
cubes for practical building purposes, and fo^ 
simpler forms of knowledge. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



75 



FORMS OF BEAUTY.* 
Starting with a few simple arrangements, 
or positions, of the blocks, we are able to de- 
velop the forms contained in this class by 
means of a fixed law, viz., that every change 
of position is to be accompanied by a corre- 
sponding movement on the opposite side. In 
this way symmetrical figures are constructed in 
infinite variety, representing no real objects, 
yet, by their regularity of outline, adapted 
to please the ej-e, and minister to a correct 
artistic taste. The love of the beautiful can- 
not fail to be awakened in the youthful mind 
by such an occupation as this, and with this 
emotion will be associated, to some extent, the 
love of the good, for they are inseparable. 

The works of God are characterized by per- 
fect order and sj'mmetry, and his goodness is 
commensurate with the beauty manifest every- 



the processes of co;:islruclion which are to fol- 
low. It is one of the important features of 
Froebel's system, that it enables the child 
readily to discover, and critically to observe, 
all relations which objects sustain to one 
another. Thoroughness, therefore, is required 
in all the details of these occupations. 

We start from any fundamental form that 
nmy present itself to our mind. Take, for 
illustration. Fig. .57. F"our cubes are here 
united side to side, constituting a square sur- 
face, and the outline is completed by placing 
the four remaining cubes, severally side to 
side with this middle square. In Fig. 58, edge 
touches edge ; in Fig. .50, side touches edge, 
and in Fig. (50, edge touches side midway. 
Another mode of development is shown in 
F"igs. 61-67. 

The four outside cubes move toward the 



where in the fruits of his creative power. The right by a half cube's length, until the original 
construction of forms of beauty with the build- form reappears in Fig. 67. 



iug blocks will prejjare the child to appreciate, 
by and by, the order that rules the universe. 

These forms are of only one block's height, 
and, consequently, represent outlines of sur- 
faces. It is necessary that the children should 
be guided, in their construction, by an easily 
recognizable center. Around this visible point 
all the separate parts of the form to be created 
must be arranged, just as in working out the 
highest destiny of man, all his thoughts and 
acts need to be regulated by an in^^sible cen- 
ter, around which he is to construct a har- 
monious and beautiful whole. 

In order to jiroduce the varied forms of 
beauty with the simple material placed in the 
hands of the scholar, he must first learn in 
what ways two cubes may lie brought in con- 
tact with each other. Four positions are shown 



Now, the four outside cubes occupy the 
opposite position. Fig. 68, edges touch sides. 
They are moved as before by a half cube's 
length, until, in Fig. 74, the form with which 
we started, is regained. 

"We now extract the inside cubes (i). Fig. 
75, and each of them travels around its neigh- 
bor cube (o), until a standing, hollow square 
is developed, as in Fig. 81. 

Now cube a again is set iu motion, (Fig. 
82). It assumes a slanting direction to the 
remaining cubes, and, pursuing its coui'se 
around them, the form reappears in Fig. 88. 

Next h is drawn out, (Fig. 89) an<l a 
pushed in, until a standing cross is formed, 
(Fig. 90) b, constantly traveling by a half 
cube's length, until all cubes are united in a 
large square, (Fig. 95) and h again begins 



in Figs. 53 to 56. The blocks may be arranged traveling, by a cube's length, turning side to 



either — side by side, as iu Fig. 53 ; edge to 
edge, as in Fig. 54 ; or edge to side, and side 
to edge, as in Figs. 55 and 56. Figs. 53 and 
55 are the opposites to Figs. 54 and 56. Other 
changes of position may be made. For ex- 
ample, in F"ig. 53 the block marked « may be 
placed above or to the right or to the left of 
the block marked b. The cubes may also be 
placed in certain relations to each other on the 
table, T\athont being in actual contact. These 
positions should be practiced perseveringly at 
the outset, so as to furnish a fouadation for 

* See chapter on Forms of Life and Beauty. 



side and edge to edge. In Fig. 100, h per- 
forms as a has done. 

But with more developed children we may 
proceed on other principles. Fig. 101, intro- 
ducing changes only on two instead of four 
sides, and thus arriving successively at the 
forms found in Figs. 102-112. 

After each occupation, the scholars should 
replace their cubes in the boxes, as heretofore 
described, and the material should be re- 
turned to the closet where it is kept, before 
commencing any other play. 



76 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 





























































































































































































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Fia;. 54. 



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Fig. 58. 



Fig. 59 























































































































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Fig. 61. 



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Fig. 64. 



Fig. 65. 



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Fig. 73. 



Fig. 74. 



Fig. 75. 



Fig. 76. 



Fig. 77. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



77 




Fio;. 78. 



Fig. 7; 



Fio-. 80 



Fig. 81. 



Fig. S2. 





















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Fig. 84. 



Fig. 85. 



Fig. 86. 



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Fig. 88. 



Fig. 89. Fig. 90. 



Fig. 91. 



Fig. 92. 



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Fig. 98. 



Fig. 99. 



Fig. 100. 



Fig. 101. Fig. 102. 



78 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 











































































i 


h 
















































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Fio-. 103. 



Fio-. 104. 



Fii>-. 105. 



Fig. 106. 



Fig. 107. 








Fia;. 10.^. 



Fig. 109. Fig. 110. 

EDITOirS NOTES. 



Fig. 111. 



Fig. 112. 



As tlie best knowledge cauuot be attained 
without division or analysis of a whole, the 
divided solids follow those which give the im- 
pression of wholes. An arbitrary di\asiou can- 
not give clear ideas, so a regular di\nsion, 
according to certain laws, is necessary. 

Prominent features of this gift are the like- 
ness of each part of the cube to the whole, and 
the contrast of size between the cube and its 
parts. The chief object of the gift is to de- 
velop the creative power of the child ; so that 
he is encouraged to follow his instinctive wish 
to see the construction of things, and begins 
his investigation of particular phenomena. He 
divides the cube to find its component parts and 
examines the pieces. He finds that each part 
is like the whole, only smaller, so that the im- 
pression of this jjarticular form is deejjened ; 
he can create many forms and byre-arranging 
discover new qualities and uses. 

The material allows the child to express out- 
wardly his inner conceptions, which is one of 
the first demands of hfe. The desire to look 
at the interior of things is the germ of the fullest 
development, the beginning of the formation 
of the scientific mind. 

Wliile this gift is similar to the cube of the 
second in size and material, and interests the 
child because of this likeness, it is the contrast 
between the two cubes that holds his attention. 



Thus he is taken from what he already knows, 
into a wider field of knowledge. 

Let the child compare the two gifts in regard 
to faces, corners, edges, direction and clement 
of rest ; in this way test his memory and lead 
hhn to commence a classification of objects by 
deciding that all bodies of similar proportions 
and qualities must be cubical in form. 

The harmony of the child's development 
through this gift rests chiefly on the method 
with which he begins and ends his play with 
it. If he takes the cube from the box as a 
whole, it stands before him a tj'pe of the unity 
he would learn about ; and if after the play 
he reconstructs the typical whole, his inner 
nature is satisfied, for he has proceeded from 
imity, through his play to unity again ; but if 
he takes the parts out one by one all is con- 
fusion, aiipealiug only to the external side of 
his nature. 

In plaj'ing, every part should lie used, other- 
wise the material is wasted. The child should 
early learn that nothing is isolated and un- 
connected, nothing without its purpose and its 
appointed use. If all the given material is used 
the relation of the part to the whole is kept con- 
stantly before the mind and eye of the child ; 
each part being of value only as it helps to 
make the whole complete. 

Details in small things are of great impor- 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



79 



tance, and the kinderaiai-tuer sliould carefully 
impress on the cliild the idea of order and neat- 
ness in the taking out and putting away of the 
cube. As soon as the box containingHiisgift 
is given out the child recognizes it as another 
cube, and the kindergartner should call atten- 
tion to tlie paper upon it, compare it with the 
other boxes, and talk aliout it. Then placing 
the box four inches from the front of the table 
reverse it so that it rests upon the top, draw 
out the cover, lift the box so as not to distiu'b 
the cubes, place the lid diagonally inside and 
remove the Ijos to give free play for the work. 
This simjile operation gives the child an ex- 
ample of order. 

In this first presentation of the divided cube, 
lead the child to see it as a whole that can be 
divided into parts, so that he shall get a defi- 
nite idea of the "ndiole, its parts, of form and 
comparative size and of the relations of num- 
ber and position, learning readily to compre- 
hend the use of such terms as front, back, top, 
bottom, right and left. Review the naming of 
ojjposites and the directions of the different 
lines. Divide the cube m all its various waj-s, 
so that it has top and bottom halves, front and 
hack halves and light and left halves ; give a 
simple sequence with a short story, thus : Move 
the right half of the cube two inches to the 
right, to make the road which little Blary takes 
on her way to grandma's in the country. Place 
the halves together again, and move the left- 
half two inches to the left (the brook which 
runs liy the foot of the meadow where she sails 
her tin}' boat and watches the fishes play). 
Put the parts together again and remove the 
top-half, placing it two inches to the back, 
(two lunch tables in the grove Ijack of the 
house). 

As from the whole to the half, so also proceed 
from the half to the cjuarter-cubes by dividing 
the halves into halves, then to the eighth of the 
whole cube, liy dividing the quarters into 
halves. Show that two-fourths and four-eighths 
equal one-half, that two-eighths equal one-quar- 
ter, that eight-eighths equal the whole, etc. Of 
course these progressive steps can only betaken 
slowly and in accordance with the child's com- 
prehension, the kindergartner making sure that 
each point is understood, liefore another is 
given. For the division of the gift sing the 
following song to the tune of '-All for Baby," 
iu Miss Poulsson's Fiuijer Plays : — 



(Wiiole cube). 

Here is mamma's kitclien, 
Built so close and tight ; 

(Place the top half on the table against the 
right of the lower half). 

Here's the brenkfast table, 
'Which we'll dress in wliite. 

(Draw right-half one inch to the right). 

Xow we will divide it, 
pee ! we have two more ; 

(Separate these halves right and left). 

Again we will divide it. 
Now we each have four. 

Push back all the liack ones. 
Each one from its mate. 
Kow if we should count them 
AVe'll tiud that we liave eight. 

Pusli them up together 
Astliej- were before. 
One and one are two, and 
Two and two are four. 

Lift the right half np. 
And place it on tlie top ; 
Now our cube is whole 
And, it's time to stop. 

The children find pleasure iu di^^ding the 
cube into its parts, examining each separate 
piece, and in arranging and re-arranging the 
eight parts in different waj-s. 

To bring out the number and position of the 
faces, call the cube a barn ; let a little bird fly 
from the top, another from the front, one from 
the back, from the right side and from the left. 
Show the edges and their directions by build- 
ing walls, platforms and columns of different 
heights and lengths in different directions, 
bringing the square faces of the cul)e so con- 
stantly before the child that his concept of a 
square becomes a true one. 

In the use of the building material allow 
the little children much freedom. Check from 
the beginning any tendency to knock down any 
of the forms which they make, and lead them 
to change one form into another related to it liy 
slight alterations. Keep this up until the child 
acquires the habit of following this plan. Have 
them build neatly and accurateh' according to 
the measurements of the squared table, as this 
brings the play building of the child under the 
fundamental law of all building and its beauty 
as well as its practicability is soon seen. 

To increase the interest of the child, and draw 
out involuntary freedom, connect the building 
with his own experiences ; connect the forms iu 



80 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



his play by a simple story or let a child tell of 
something he has seen, and illustrate by build- 
ing the object. Show the different ways cubes 
may touch each other, as face to face ( direction 
front and back, or right and left) ; edge to 
edge, with the corners front, faces front right 
and left, or front and back ; edge to face at 
the front, back, right and left. To add in- 
terest let the children invent and tell a story 
about the object. They are delighted to see 



their cube grow into a table, a chair for grandpa, 
a bed, a church, a bridge, a lighthouse to 
guide the sailors. These objects they clothe 
with life, developing their imagination and 
originality. Thus through this gift the forma- 
tive and expressed powers of the child are ex- 
ercised, his judgment and reason are developed 
and he gains a love of all that is beautiful and 
harmonious. 



THE FOURTH GIFT. 



The precertinu; gift consisted of cubical 
blocks, all of their three diineusions being the 
same. In the Fourth Gift, we have greater vari- 
ety for purposes of construction, since each of 
the parts of the large cube is an oblong block, 
whose length is twice its width, and four times 
its thickness. The dimensions bear the same 
proportion to each other as those of an ordi- 
nary brick ; and hence these blocks are some- 
times called lirieks. They are useful in teach- 
ing the child difference in regard to length, 
breadth, and height. This difference enal)les 
hiui to construct a greater variety of forms 
thaa he could by means of the third gift. By 
these he is made to understand, more dis- 
tinctly, the meaning of the terms vertical 
and horizontal. And if the teacher sees fit to 
pursue the course of experiment sufficiently 
far, many philosophical truths will be devel- 
oped ; as, for instance, the law of equilibrium, 
shown by laying one block across another, or 
the phenomenon of continuous motion, exhibi- 
ted in the movement of a row of the blocks, set 
on end, and gently pushed from one direction. 

PREPARATION FOR CONSTRUCTING 
FORMS. 

This gift is introduced to the children in a 
manner similar to the presentation of the third 
gift. The box is reversed upon the table and 
the cover is removed. Lifting the box care- 
fully, the cube remains entire. The children 
are made to observe that, when whole, its size 
is the same as that of the previous one. Its 
parts, however, are very different in form, 
though their number is the same. There are 
still eight blocks. Let the scholars compare one 
of the small cubes of the third gift with one of 
the oblong blocks in this gift ; note the simi- 
larities and the differences ; then, if they can 
comprehend, that notwithstandiug, they are so 
unlike in form, their soM contents is the same, 
since it takes just eight of each to make the 
same sized cube, an important lesson will have 
been learned. If told to name objects that re- 
semble the oblong blocks, they will readily 
designate abrick, table, piano, closet etc., and 
if allowed to invent forms of life, will doubt- 
less construct boxes, benches, etc. 



The same precision should be observed in 
all the details of opening and closing the plays 
with this gift as in those previously described. 
FORMS OF LIFE. 

The following is a list of Fr^bel's forms. 
If the names do not appear quite striking, or 
to the point, the teacher may try to substitute 
better ones : — 




Fig. 1. 



The Cube. 



f?^/ . ! I. 'I . r 
Fig. 2. 
Part of a Floor, or Top of a Table. 




Fig. 3. 
Two Large Boards. 




Fig. 4. 
Fom- Small Boards. 




Fig. 5. 
Eight Buildina; Blocks. 




Fig. 6. 
A Long Garden Wall. 



82 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 






I 

Fia;. 



i 
J 



A City Gate. 




Fig. 8. 
Another City Gate. 




Fig. 9. 



A Bee Staud. 





■^ y A 






1 1 li 


\m 




'nil 


1 iii'it 


\m 








i 


Fig. 10. 


A Colonnade 











z?c 



Ti", I 



Fig. 11. 



A Passage. 




Fisf. 12. 



Bell Tower. 




Fig. 13. 
Open Garden House. 




Fig. 14. 
Garden House, with doors 




Fia;. 15. 



A Shaft. 




Fig. 16. 



Shaft. 




Fig. 17. 
A Well, with cover. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



83 




Fig. 18. 



A Fountain. 




Fig. i;). 
Closed Garden Wall. 




Fig. 20. 
An Open Garden. 




Fig. 21. 



An Open Garden. 




Fig. 22. 
Watering Trough. 



m f'-iiiirmiTM 



'Ullllllll 



TWilil 



Fig. 23. 



Shooting Stand. 




mill 



''"\\\\ 



Fig. 24. 



Village. 




Fig. 2.5. 



Triumpliul Arch. 




Fig. 26. 



Merry-go-round . 



Fig. 27. 
Large Garden Settee. 



h"'uiiii|l|li 



Fig. 28. 



Seat. 



rra 



Fig. 29. 



Settee. 



:^' 



'^ii^ 



Fig. 30. 



Sofa. 





Fig. 31. 



"wo Chairs. 



84 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



.^=« 



^ 



I* 



Fio-. 32. 
Gaideu Table and Chairs. 




Fisr. 33. 



Cbildreu's Table. 





■il'll 




■ 'i:;.l 




'lij:; 




"■'''' '1 


^ 


A y 


" "' iif 


'Mihlililp- 



Fig. 34. 



Tombstone. 




Fig. 35. 



Tombstone. 




Fio-. 36 



Tombstone. 




Fig. 37. 



Monument. 




Fig. 38. 



Monument. 




Fig. 39. 



Winding Stairs. 




Broader Stairs. 



Fig. 40. 



Stalls. 



Fig. 41. 



1 




Fig. 42. 



A Cross Road. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



85 




Fig. 43. 



Timuel. 



■J 


h 


,l 


i L 


.1 '': 1 


I -''H, 



Fis;. 44. 



Pyramid. 




Fig. 45. 



obooting Stand. 




Fisr. 46. 



Front of a House. 




Fig. 47. 

Chair, -n-itb Footstool. 




A Throne. 



Fig. 48. 




Fig. 50. 

Figs. 49 and 50 are illustrations of Continr 
uous Motion. 

Here as in the use of the previous gift, one 
form is produced from another by slight 
changes, accompanied by explanations on the 
part of the teacher. Thus, Fig. 30 is easily 
changed to Figs. 31, 32, and 33, and Fig. 34 
may be changed to Figs. 35, 36, and 37. In 
every case, all the blocks are to be employed 
in constructing a figure. 

FORMS OF KNOWLEDGE. 

This gift like the preceding, is used to com- 
municate ideas of di^•isibility. Here, however, 





Fig. 51. Fig. 52. 

on account of the particular form of the parts, 
the processes are adapted to illustrate the di- 
vision of a surface, as well as of a solid body. 



Fig. 53. 
The cube is arranged so that one vertical 
and three horizontal cuts appear, (Fig. 51 ) and 
the child is then requested to separate it into 



86 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



Fio;. 54. 



halves, (Fig. 52) these halves iuto quarters, 
(Fig. 53) and these quarters iuto eighths, 
(Fig. 54). Each of the latter will be fouuil to 
be one of the oblong blocks, and this for the 
time may be made the subject of couversatiou. 

"Of what material is this block made?" 

"What is the color?" 

"What objects resemble it in fonn?" 

"How maiiy sides has it?" 

"Which ii! the largest side?" 

"Which is the smallest side?" 

"Is there a side larger than the smallest 
and smaller than the largest ?" 

In this waj', the scholars learn that there are 
three kinds of sides, symmetrically arranged 
in pairs. The upper aud lower, the right and 
left, the front and back, are respectively equal 
to and like each other. 

By questions, or by direct explanation, facts 
like the following, may be made apparent to 
the minds of children. "The upper aud lower 
Bides of the block are twice as lai'ge as the 
two long sides, or the front aud back, as they 
maybe called. Again, the front aud back are 
twice as large as the right ;nd left, or the two 
short sides of the oiocii. Consequently, the 
two largest sides are four times as large as 
the two smallest sides." This can be demon- 
strated in a very interesting way, by placing 
several of the blocks side by side, iu a variety 
of positions, and in all these operations the 
children should be allowed to experiment for 
themselves. The small cubes of the preceding 
gift may also with propriety be brought in 
comparison with the oblong blocks of this gift, 
and the differences observed. 



h 


•1 , 




; /'I 


I 


■HI 


llllilllil'. 


SiilliillU 



tical or horizontal cut, (Figs. 56 and 57). 
These two forms will give rise to inp*^ructive 

observations and remarks by asking : — 
"AVhat was the form of the original tablet?" 
"What is the form of its halves?" 
"How many times larger is their breadth 

than their height?" 

So with regard to the position of the oblong 

halves ; the one may be said to be lying (Fig. 

56) while the other is standing, (Fig. 57). 



■Hiili 






MllJi,.: 



Fig. 56. 
'Change a lying 



Fig. 57. 
a lying to a standing oblong 
block." Iu order to do this, the child wih 
move the first so as to describe a quarter of a 
cii'cle to the right or left. 



Fig. 58. 
L'nite two blocks by joining their small sides. 
You then have a large lying oblong block, 

(Fig. 58). 



iilPPI 



Fig. 59. 
"Separate again (Fig. 59) aud divide each 
part iuto halves, (Figs. 60 aud 61). You have 
now four parts called quarters, and these 
are squares, iu their surface form." 



Fig. 55. 

When the single block has been employed to 
advantage, through several lessons, the whole 
cube may then be made use of, for the repre- 
sentation of forms of knowledge. 

Construct a tablet or plane as in Fig. 55. 
In order to show the relations of dimension, 
divide this plane iuto halves, either by a ver- 




Fig. 60. 
Each of these quarters may be subdivided, 
aud the children taught the method of dii-isior 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



87 




Fig. 0-2. 



I 



Fio-. 61. 





Fig. 63. 



Fis;. 64. 



Fig. 06 










by two. Other 
material may 
also be used iu 
c o 11 n e e t i on 
■n-itli the blocks 
such as apples, 
or an y small 
objects which 
serve to illus- 
trate the pro- 
perties of mim- 
ber. It is evi- 
deut that these 
oper ations 
should be con- 
ducted iu the 
most natural 
way, and never 
b e g u n at too 
early a stage of 
development of 
the little ones. 
In Figs. 62-6.5 
anothermodeis 
indicated, for 
the puri)Ose of 
illustrating fur- 
ther tlie coudi- 
tionsof form connected 
with this gift. Figs. 
66-81 show the manner 
in which exercises in 
addition and subtrac- 
tion may be introduced 
;\s has already been alluded to in the 
lescription of the Third Gift. 

FORMS OF BEAUTY. 

We first ascertain, as iu the case of 
the cubes, the various modes iu which 
the oblong blocks cau l)e brought in 
relation to each other. These are 
much more numerous than iu the 



88 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



Third Gift, because of the greater variety iu 
the dimensions of the parts. Iu the follow- 
ing designs a number of forms of beauty are 
shown derivable from the original foi'm, (Fig. 
82). Each two blocks form a separate group, 
which four groups touching iu the center, form 
a large square. The outside blocks (o) move 
in Figs, 8y-90, around the stationary middle. 

Tue inside blocks (h) are now drawn out 
(Fig. 91) then the blocks (a) united to form 
a hollow square (Fig. 92) around which b 
moves gradually (Figs 93 and 94). 

Now b is combined into a cross with open 
center, a goes out (Fig. 95) and moves in 
an opposite direction until Fig. 98 aj)pears. 

By extricating b the eight-rayed star (Fig. 
99) is formed. In Fig. lOO a revolves, b is 
drawn out until edge touches edge and thus 
the form of a flower appears (Fig. 101). 

Now b is turned (Fig. 102) andiu Fig. 103, 
a wreath is shown. Iu Fig. 103 the inside 
edges touch each other ; in Fig. 104, inside 



and outside ; iu Fig. 105 edges with sides, 
and b is united to a large hollow square, around 
which a conmiences a regular moving. In 
Fig. 110, a is linallj' united to a h'ing cross, 
and thereby another starting-point gained for 
a new series of developments. 

Each of these figures can be subjected to a 
variety of changes by simply placing the blocks 
ou their long or short sides, or as the children 
will say, by letting them stand vjior lie cloun. 
The network of lines on the table is to be 
the constant guide, in the construction of 
forms. In inventing a new series, place a 
block above, below, at the right or left of the 
center ; and a second opposite and equidis- 
tant. A third and a fourth are placed at the 
right and left of these, but iu tlie same posi- 
tion relative to the center. The remaining 
four are placed symmetricallj' about those first 
laid. Bj' moving the o's or 6's regularly in 
either direction, a variety of figures may be 
formed. 




Fia;. 82. 



Fisf. 83. 



Fig. M. 



Fig. 85. 



Fig. 8(3. 




Fig. 87. 



Fig. 92. 



Fig. 88. 



Fig. Kl 



Fig. 90. 



Fig. 93. 



Fig. 94. 



Fig. 95. 



Fig. 91. 




Fig. 96. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



89 




Fio-. 102. 



Fig. 103. 



Fig. 104. 



Fig. 105. 




Fig. 106. 



Fig. 107. 



Fig. 108. 



Fig. 109. 



Fig. 110. 



EDITOR'S NOTES. 



While wc find that the eight equal parts of 
the third gift are of the same form as the whole, 
this gift shows eight parts in the form of par- 
allelopipeds-solids, with three imequal dimen- 
sions, which constitute the chief characteristic 
of the gift, and adds to both gift and play a 
new and original importance. 

In this as in all the building gifts, every part 
should be used, and when the boxes have been 
distributed they should be opened in such a way 
that the cube stands before the child as a whole, 
so that he may begin his work as a whole. 
Call attention to its being divided according to. 
a new plan, and to the form of the component 
parts, which the child easily recognizes as be- 
ing that of a brick. 

Let a cube of the third gift lie handed to the 
children so that they maj' com[)are it with the ob- 
long brick of this gift ; ask for similarities and 



differences ; the unequal dimensions iu these 
bricks make it necessary for the child to pro- 
ceed with more reflection, to compare, and to 
experiment, iu order to produce asymmetrical 
result. If two cubes are given, the children 
will readily see that two bricks laid one above 
the other are just as large as two cubes laid 
side by side, and in this way the truth is made 
e^ideut that the solid contents are the same. 

While in the third gift the solid appears 
most prominently, in this gift the idea of sur- 
face is suggested. Every face is an oblong, 
and the variety of size makes more clear the 
form itself, so the child gains as true a con- 
cept of an oblong as of a square. 

To impress on the child the differences ot 
position which each brick can occupy, let the 
bricks stand, as soldiers, sit or lie flat, as if 
asleep. Give the child a cube, and ask him to 



90 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



do the same witli that. He finds it always re- 
mains the same on whichever of its faces it may 
rest ; tlius new lessons are taught him, and 
he is made to understand length and breadth 
more clearly. The different dimensions in the 
hricks make the variety and numlK-r of jiossi- 
blc figures with this gift almost incalculable. 
Many philosophical truths may be illustrated, 
as the law of c(|uilibrium — when a narrow face 
has to support a broader one ; or continuous 
motion — by setting a row of blocks on end, and 
pushing the first one against the other, causing 
the whole row to fall. 

As an exercise in tlie relation of size, let the 
children separate the cube into halves, which 
may lie done by a vertical or horizontal divis- 
ion, aud gives rise to suggestive ([uestions and 
instructive observations ; these halves may be 
separated again and divided into quarters, and 
again into eighths ; in this manner the children 
are brought to comprehend successive di\-i- 
sions by two. These exercises admit of many 
variations. 

Let the pupils find the different waj's in which 
two bricks may lie placed with regard to each 
other, and build forms while the teacher talks 
with them about the objects represented, so as 
to awaken thought within them. 

' Let the children work out for themselves 
with the blocks, a sequence of moves illustrating 
a story, or a sequence of thought given by the 
teacher. In this way they come to know the 
form as regards dimensions, faces and relation 
of parts to the whole. 

A fresh delight comes to the child when he 
discovers how one oljject may he transformed 
into another, and particularly when there is 
some conuection between each new figure and 
the child himself, who must have a clear insight 
into the most simple and natural relations of 
things, that the sight of things more com- 
plicated may not confuse him and hinder his 
development. The following sequences are 
suggestive and render it easy to find such 
connections. 

FURNITURE SEQUENCE. 

BuKEAO. — Cube, with cut running right aud 
left. Draw the front half away. Let a luick 
stand at either end of the back half touching 
it by the broad face. Join the two remaining 
bricks by their long narrow faces and place on 
top for a mirror. Fig. 111. 



Washstand. — Let the two bricks which 
formed the mirror stand directly back of the 
lying bricks, touching them by their broad faces. 
Let the top brick sit on the standing back bricks, 
Fig. 112. 







"^ I'll 


IS 








Fig. 111. Fig. 112. 

"Writing-Desk. — Lift sitting brick in the 
right hand, and the two bricks below it in the 
left hand. Let the two bricks lie on the re- 
maining pile, projecting an inch in front, the 
cut running front and back. Let the remain- 
ing brick sit on them at the back, so its broad 
face coincides with their short faces. Fig. 1 13. 

Hat-rack. — Lift the three bricks just placed. 
Let two stand ' at the back as lief ore. Lift the 
top brick, join it to the remaining brick by long 
narrow faces, and let them sit on the back 
bricks. Fig. 114. 




i-tSI 



Fig. lis: Fig. 114. 

Chair and Table. — Join right ' and left 
bricks by their broad faces. Let them he, 
right and left, two inches in ' front of f oitn. 
Lift the two top bricks aud let them lie across 
the two front bricks, the cut running front and 
back. Fig. 115. 

Two Chairs. — Make a chair of the front 
bricks, facing and similar to the chair of the 
four back bricks, Fig. 116. 





Fig. 115. Fig. 116. 

Bed. — Remove the back of the front chair. 

Place the top brick in the back chair cushion, so 

that it touches the standing bricks by its broad 

face. Place the top front brick so that its 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



91 



broad face coincides with the narrow front face 
of the brick below it. Fit in the remaining 



short faces just touching. Place the remaining 
brick at the left in a similar position, Fig. 125. 




Fig. 117. 
bricks for a mattress, the cut running front 
and back. Fig. 117. Then comes the orderly 
building of the cube. 

tBAKEE SEQUENCE. 

Shop. — Cube, cut running right and left. 
Fig. 118. 

Eight Drawees. — Remove the front half, 
placing it one inch to the right of the back half, 
in similar position. Fig. 119. 



i 



LA 



Fig. 118. Fig. 119. 

Two CousTERS. — Let the right and left bricks 
touch by theii- short faces. Place the top half 
two inches in front of the lower half, running 
right and left. Fig. 120. 

FocB LoATES. — Draw the two back nght 
bricks one inch to the right. The front bricks 
the same. Fig. 121. 



(^ 



^ 



^ 



Zi^ 



Fig. 120. Fig. 121. 

Table. — Rish the bricks together forming 
aprism 4x1x1, Fig. 122. 

B-AKDfG Sheets. — Place the top half two 
inches back of the lower half. Fig. 123. 



a 



r^ y 



Fig. 122. Fig. 123. 

Molding Board. — Push the front and back 
halves tosrether. Fig. 124. 




Fig. 124. 

Rolling Pin. — Place the two front right 

bricks at the right of and touching the liack 

right bricks by their short faces. Place front 

left brick at the right of those just placed, the 



C 



zzn 



■n 



X 



a 



Fig. 125. 

Mixing Trough. — Join the two end bricks 
by their short faces and let them sit back of the 
four left hand bricks touching by broad faces. 
Let the two front left bricks sit opposite those 
just placed. Take one of the right hand bricks 
in each hand, and let them sit at either end of 
the trough, closing the opening, Fig. 126. 

Flolti Scoops. — Draw the right half, one 
inch to the right. Fig 127. 



Fig. 126. Fig. 127. 

"Wagon. — Place the left-hand brick directly 
at the left of the right half, so that it shall 
touch it with the broad face. Remove the 
brick Ijing at the left between the two sitting 
bricks, and place it front and back across the 
middle of the wagon. The two remaining left 
bricks serve as horses, Fig. 128. 





Fig. 128. Fig. 129. 

Monet Chest. — Lift one of the left hand 
liricks in each hand, place one right and left 
of the wagon seat, touching it by loug narrow 
faces. This lid may be raised or lowered at 
will. Fig. 129. Return to cube. 

HOUSE BUILDDCG ANT> FURXISHIXG 
SEQUENXE. 

HorsE. — Cube with the cutting right and 
left. Fig. 130. 





Fig. 130. Fig. 131. 

Piazza. — Lift the top half, place it directly 
in front of and touching the lower half, cut 
running right and left, Fig. 131. 

Open Door. — Lift the two front bricks, and 
let them stand on the back brick, one inch 
apart, with the long narrow faces in front. 
Lift the top front brick and let it lie across the 
standing biicks, Fig. 132. 



92 



GULDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



Four Tables. — Move the five back bricks 
oue iueh back, move the front brick one inch 
front. Flace the l)rick which forms the top of 
the door on the front brick, toucliing it by the 
broad face. Join the standing bricks bj' broad 
faces and let them lie oue inch bade of tlio Ijack 
bricks, Fig. 133. 





ll 


r liii 


---' x^lll^S 


1 Ira 




Fig. 132. Fig. 133. 

Car-seats. — Lot the upper back brick sit 
directlj' behind the lower hack brick. Arrange 
remaining bricks in like manner, Fig. 134. 

Two Lox<; Seats. — Lift the back seat, plac- 
ing it beside the seat directly in front of it, so 
that they will touch by short faces. Join the two 
remaining seats in like manner. Fig. 135. 




f==T 



,^^ 



ZZl 



Fig. 134. Fig. 13.5. 

Sofa, with Arms and Table. — Remove the 
front, sitting bricks, and let one sit at either 
end of the Ijack seat touching it bj' broad faces, 
tlie short faces being in front. Let two front 
bricks touch one another liy broad faces, form- 
ing the tal)le, Fig. 136. 



Fig. 136. 
Two Seats With Arms. — Draw three right 
hand bricks, two inches to the right. Let the 
brick which forms the top of the table sit at 
the left hand end of the bricks just moved, 
touching them by broad faces. Left hand sec- 
tion the same, Fis. 137. 



Fig. 137. 
Two Marble Basins. — Draw out the brick 
which forms the right-hand seat, and let it sit 
one inch in front of the back )irick, similar posi- 



tion. Left hand section the same, Fig. 138. 

Two AV'iNDOWs. — Holding the right-hand 

bricks firmly together, place them in an upright 



Fig. 138. 
position, so that the bricks whicli were right 
and left, form the top and bottom of a window. 
Same with the left bricks. Fig. 139. 

High Window. — Place the left-hand window 
on top of the right-hand window, Fig. 140. 




Fig. 140. 

Vestibule — Place the top half of the win- 
dow directly in front of and touching the lower 
half. Fig. 141. 

Band Stand. — Let the two top bricks lie 
directly in front of and touching the lower 
Itricks. Remove the standing bricks. Let 
oue lie right and left across the cut between 
the two front bricks, another across the cut be- 
tween the two back bricks. Let the two re- 
maining bricks lie across the opening front 
and back. Fig. 142. Return to cube. 





Fig. 141. Fig. 14i>. 

The children take pleasure in uniting, and 
building with this gift : also, with the third and 
fourth combined, when they have liecome suffi- 
ciently acquainted with each separatel}' ; eom- 
)>iuiiig the gifts gives them an opportunity of 
comparing the cube and brick more closely, and 
so learn their properties and pecluiarities bet- 
ter, than by the use of each separately. 

Oue will build a church, another a stove, a 
shop or house, and so a group of children will 
have a unity of purpose which is harmonizing 
in its effects. 



Note. — Kindcrgartners have found the combination of tlie third and fourth gifts give? excellent building 
material, extending the number and variety of blocks. It is also customary in some kindergartens to substitute 
one divided cube for one of the whole cubes of the third gift, this enabling the children to practice on combining 
halves and quarters before recei\-ing the fifth gift. 



THE FIFTH GIFT. 

CUBE, TWICE DIVIDED IX EACH DIRECTION. 



All gifts used as occupation material iu 
the Kiudergarteu develop, as previously stated, 
oue from another. The Fifth Gift, like that 
of the Third aud Fourth Gifts, consists of a 
cube again, although larger than the previous 
ones. The cube of the Third Gift ^^•as divided 
once iu all directions. The uatin'al progress 
from 1 is to 2 ; hence the cube of the Fifth 
Gift is di\ided ticice iu all directions ; conse- 
queutlj', iu three equal parts, each consisting 
of iilne smaller cubes of equal size. But as 
this division would only have multiplied, uot 
diversified, the occupation material, it was 
necessary to introduce a new element, by sub- 
dividing some of the cubes iu a slauting di- 
rectiou. 

We have heretofore introduced ouly verti- 
cal and horizontal lines. These opposites, 
however, require their mediate element, and 
this mediation was already indicated iu the 
forms of life and of beauty of the Third and 
Fourth Gifts, when side and edge, or edge 
and side, were brought to touch each other. 
The slauting direction appearing there transi- 
tionalh' — occasionally — here, becomes perma- 
nent by introducing the slanting line, sepa- 
rated by the di\'isiou of the body, as a bodilj' 
reality. 



1 


ill 


\ 


$\ 




1 


i 


7'. 


% 


1 


Ij 


V 


m 



Fig. 1. 

Three of the part cubes of the Fifth Gift 
are divided into half cubes, three others into 
quarter cubes, so that there are left twenty- 
one whole cubes of the twentj'-seveu, produced 
by the division of the cube mentioned before, 
aud the whole Gift consists of thirty-nine 
single pieces. 

It is most convenient to pack them in the 
box, so as to have all half and quarter cubes 
and three whole cubes in the bottom row, as 
in Fig. 1, which ouly admits of separating the 
whole cube in the various ways required here- 



after, as it will also assist iu placing the cube 
upon tlie table, which is done in the same 
manner as described w'th the preWous Gifts. 
The first practice with this Gift is like that 
with others introduced thus far. Led by the 
question of the teacher, the pupils state that 
this cube is larger than theii other cubes ; aud 
the manner iu which it is divided will next at- 
tract their attention. They state how many 
times the cube is divided iu each du'ectiou, 
how many parts we have if we separate it 
according to these various divisions, aud car- 
rying out what we say gives them the neces- 
sary assistance for answering these questions 
correctly. In Fig. 2 the three parts of the cube 
have been separated and laid side by side. 




Fig. 2. 

These three squares we can again divide 
iu three parts, and these latter again in three, 
so that tlien we shall have twenty-seven parts, 
which teaches the pupil that 3X3=0, 3X9 

To some, the repetition of the apparently 
simple exercises may appear superfluous ; but 
repetition alone, iu this simple manner, will 
assist children to remember, aud it is always 
interesting, as they have uot to deal with ab- 
stractions, but have real things to look at for 
the formation of their conclusions. 

But, again I saj-, do not continue these oc- 
cupations any longer than you can command 
the attention of your pupils by them. As soon 
as signs of fatigue or lack of interest become 
manifest, drop the subject at once, and leave 
the Gift to the pupils for their owu amuse- 
ment. If j-ou act according to this achnce, 
your pupils never will overexert themselves, 
and will always come with eulivened interest 
to the same occupation whenever it is again 
taken up. 

After the children have become acquainted 
with the manner of di^^sion of their new large 
cube, and have exercised with it in the above- 
mentioned way, their attention is drawn to the 



94 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



shape of the divided half and quarter cubes. 

They are divided by means of slantiny lines, 
■which should be made particularly prominent, 
and the pupils are theu asked to point out, on 
the whole cubes, in Avliat manner they were di- 
vided in order to form half and quarter cubes. 
The pupils also point out horizontal, vertical 
and slanting lines which they observe in things 
in the room or other near objects. 

Take the two halves of your cube apart and 
Bay, "How many corners and angles can you 
count on the upper and lower sides of these 
two half cubes?" "Three." Three corners and 
three angles, which latter, you recollect, are 
the insides of corners. AVe call therefore, the 
upper and lower side of the half cube a tri- 
angle, which simply means a side or plane 
with three angles. The child has now enriched 
its knowledge of lines by the introduction of 
the obli(]ue or slanting line, in addition to the 
horizontal and vertical lines, and of sides or 
planes by the introduction of the triangle, in 
addition to the square and oblong previously 
introduced. With the introduction of the tri- 
angle, a great treasure for the development of 
forms is added, on account of its frequent oc- 
currence as elementary forms in all the many 
formations of regular objects. 

The child is expected to know this Gift now 
sufficiently to employ it for the production of 
the various forms of life and beauty to be in- 
troduced . 

FORMS OF LIFE. 

The main condition here, as always, is that 
for each representation the whole of the occu- 
pation material be employed ; not that only 
one object should always be built, but in such 
manner that remaining pieces be always used 
to represent accessory parts, although apart 
from, yet in a certain relation to the main 



position actively and effectively in relation to 
some greater whole. 

Nor should it be forgotten that nothing 
should Ije destroyed, but everything produced 
by rebuilding. It is advisable always to start 
with the figure of the cube. 








1,1 




Iil 


m 



Fig. 4. 



Flower-stand. 




Large Chair. 




Fig. 6. 
Easy Chair, with Foot Bench. 









i!ii 




.ij 


' 




'ill 




;i 


1 




Ip 



Cube. 



Fig. 3. 




figure. The child should, again and again, be 

reminded that nothing belonging to a whole 

is, or could lie, allowed to be superfluous, but posed of twelve quarter cubes; third row, six 

that each individual part is destined to till its half cubes. 



Fig. 7. 

A Bed. Lowest row, fifteen whole cubes; 
second row, six whole and six half cubes com- 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



95 




Sofa. First row, sixteen -n-hole and two 
half cubes. 




Fis. 9. 



A WeU. 




Fig. 10. 
House, with Yard. First row, twelve whole 
cubes ; second row, nine whole and six half 
cubes ; roof, twelve quarter cubes. 








Figr. 13. 



Chui'ch, Building itself, eighteen whole 
cubes ; roof, twelve quarter cubes ; steeple, 
three whole cubes, and three half cubes ; vestry 
three half cubes. 




Fig. 14. 



Fig. 15. 



Body of Church. Eight whole, four half and 
eight quarter cubes ; steejjles, twice five whole 
and two half cubes ; befrn-een steeples, three 
whole and four- quarter cubes. Fig. 15, ground 
plan. 



Fig. 11. 

A Peasant's House. First row, ten whole 
cubes ; second row, eight whole and two half 
cubes ; roof, three whole, four half and twelve 
quarter cubes. 




Fig. 16. 

S- 12. Factory, with Chimney and Boiler-house. 

Schoolhouse. First row, nine whole and six Factory, sixteen whole cubes ; roof, sis half 

quarter cubes; second row, nine whole cubes; and four quarter cubes; chimney, five whole 

thii-d row, three whole and six half cubes ; and two quarter cubes ; boiler-house, four 

foiirti TOW, six quarter cubes. quarter cubes ; roof, two quarter cubes. 



!)G 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 




Fis;. 17. 
Clia|)el, with Ilennitage. 




Fig. 18. 
Two Cxarden Houses, with Rows of Trees. 






Fig. 19. 



A Castle. 




Fig;. 20. 




Fig. 21. 
City Gate, with Three Entrances. 











/ \ 


1 


1 
















1 




I 




|L 


1 


IL 


L 


1 










i 






I- 



Fig. 22. 



Arsenal. 




Fig. 23. 
C'itv Gate, with Two Guard-houses. 




Cloister in Rnins 



Fig. 24. 

A Monument. First row, nine whole and 
four half cubes ; second to fourth row, each, 
four whole cubes ; on either side, two quarter 
cubes, united to a square column, and to unite 
the four columns, two half cubes. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



97 




A Monnment. Fii-st row, nine whole and fonr 
quarter cubes ; second row, five whole and four 
half cubes ;third row, four whole cubes ; fourth 
row, two half and four (quarter cubes. 




' Fig. 26. 

A Large Cross. First row, nine whole and 
four times three quarter cubes ; second row, 
four whole cubes ; tbiid row, four half cubes. 

Tables, chairs, sofas and lieds, are the first 
objects the child builds. They are the objects 
with which he is most familiar. Then the child 
builds a house, in which he lives, speaking of 
kitchen, sleeping-room, parlor, and eating- 
room, when representing it. .Soon the realm of 
his ideas widens. It roves into garden, street, 
etc.. It builds the church, the schoolhouse, 
where the older brothers and sisters are in- 
structed ; the factoi'y, and arsenal, from which, 
at noon and after the days's work is over, so 
many laborers walk out to their homes to eat 
their dinner and supper, to rest from their 



work, and to play with their little children. 
The ideas which the children receive of all 
these objects by this occupation, grow more 
correct by studying them in their details, where 
they meet with them in reality. In all this 
they are, as a matter of course, to be assisted 
by the instructive conversation of the teacher. 
It is not to be forgotten that the teacher may 
influence the minds of the ehildien very favor- 
ably, by I'elating short stories about things and 
persons in connection with the object repre- 
sented. Not their minds alone are to be dis- 
ciplined ; their hearts are to be developed, and 
each beautiful and noble feeling encouraged 
and strengthened. 

Be it remembered again that it is not neces- 
sary that the teacher should always follow the 
course of development shown in the figures 
on our pages. Every course is acceptable, 
if only destruction is prevented and rebuilding 
adhered to. Some of the figures may not be 
familiar to some of the children. The one hat 
never seen a castle or a city gate, a well or a 
monument. Short descriptive stories about 
such objects will introduce the child into a 
new sphere of ideas, and stimulate the desire 
to see and hear more and moie, thus adding 
daily and hourly, to the stock of knowledge of 
which he is already possessed. Thus, these 
plays will not only cultivate the manual dex- 
terity of the child, develop his eye, excite his 
fantasy, strengthen his power of invention, 
but the accompanying oral illustrations will 
also instruct him, and create in him a love for 
the good, the noble, the beautiful. 

The Fifth Gift is used with children from 
five to six years old, who are expected to be 
in their third year in the Kindergarten. 

A box, with its contents stands on the table 
before each child. They empty the box aa 
heretofore described, so that the bottom row 
of the cube, containing the half and quarter 
cubes, is made the top row. 

"What have you now?" 

'>A cube." 

"We will build a church. Take off all quar- 
ter and half cubes, and place them on the 
table before you in good order. Move the three 
whole cubes of the upi)er row together, so that 
they are all to the left of the other cubes. Take 
three more whole cubes from the right side, 
and put them beside the three cubes which 
were left of the upper row. Take the three re- 



98 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



mainino' cubes, which were on the right side, 
aud add them to the quarter aud half cubes. 
What have you uow?" 

•'A house without roof, three cubes high, 
three cubes loug aud two cubes broad." 

"We will now make the roof. Place ou each 
of the six ui>per cubes a quarter culie with its 
largest side. Fill up the space between each 
two quarter cubes with another quarter cube, 
and i)lace another quarter cube ou top of it. 
What have you uow?" 

"A house with roof." 

"How mauy cubes are yet remainiug?" 

"Three whole aud six half cubes." 

"Take the whole cubes, aud place them one 
ou top of the other, before the house. Add 
another cube, made of two half cubes, aud 
cover the top with half a cube for a roof. 
What have you uow?" 

"A steeple." 

"We will employ the remaining three half 
cubes to build the entrance. Take two of the 
half cubes, form a whole cube of them, aud 
place it ou the other side of the house, oppo- 
site the steeple, and lay upon it the last half 
cube as a roof. AMiat have we built uow ?" 

"A church with steeple aud entrance." 
(Fig. 13). 

FORMS OF KNOWLEDGE. 

The representation of the forms of knowl- 
edge, to which the Fifth Gift offers oppor- 
tunity, is of great advantage for the develop- 
ment of the child. To superticial observers, it is 
true, it may appear as if Fra'bel not only as- 
cribed too much importance to the mathemati- 
cal element to the disadvantage of others, but 
that mathematics necessarily require a greater 
maturity of uuderstauding than could be found 
with cliildreu of the Kiudergarten age. But 
who thinks of introducing mathematics as a 
science? Mauy a child, live or six years of age, 
has heard that the moon revolves around tlie 
earth, that a locomotive is propelled b_y steam, 
and that lightuiug is the effect of electricity. 
These astronomical, dynamic aud physical 
facts have been presented to him as mathe- 
matical facts are presented to his observatiou 
in Frrebel's Gifts. Most assuredly it would 
be folly, if one would introduce in the Kiuder- 
garten, mathematical problems in the usual 
abstract manner. In the Kiudergarten, the 
child beholds the bodily representation of an 
expressed truth, recognizes the same, receives 

See chapter on Lc 



it without difficult}', without overtaxing its 
developing mind iu any manner whatsoever. 
AVhatever would be difficult for the child to 
derive from the mere word, naj', which might 
under certain circumstances be hurtful to the 
young mind, is taught naturally and in an easy 
manner by the forms of kuowledge, which 
thus liecome the best means of exercising the 
child's power of observation, reasoning, and 
judging. Beware of all problems and abstrac- 
tions. The child builds, forms, sees, observes, 
compares, and then expresses the truth it has 
ascertained. By repetition, these truths, ac- 
quired by the observatiou of facts, become 
the child's mental property, aud this is not to 
be done hurriedly, but during the last two 
years iu the Kindergarten and aftei-n-ards in 
the Primary Department. 

The first seven forms of knowledge (Figs. 
27-33) show the regular divisions of the cube 
in three, nine and twenty-seven parts. In 
either case, a whole cube was employed, and 
yet the forms produced by division are dif- 
ferent. This shows that the contents may be 
equal, when forms are different. (Figs. 28, 
29, 30, 31 and 32). 



^ 


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^ y . 


^ X' X- yi' 








1:; 
















Fig. 29. 




Fig. 30. 




Fig. 31. 



. Matliouiatics. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



99 




Fig. 3-2. 




Fig. 33. 

This difference becomes still more obvious if 
the three parts of Fig. 28 are united to a stand- 
ing oblong, or those of Fig. 29 to a lying ob- 
long, or if a single long beam is formed of 
Fig. 30. 

"Take a cube children, place it before you, 
and also a cube divided in two halves, and place 
the two halves with their triangular planes or 
sides, one upon another." 

These two lialves united are just as large 
as the whole cube. 

But the two halves may be united, also, in 
other ways. They may touch each other with 
their quadratic and right angular planes. 

Represent these different ways of uniting the 
two halves of the cube simultaneously. Not- 
withstanding the difference in the forms, the 
contents of mass of matter remained the same. 

In a still more multiform manner, this fact 
may be illustrated with the cubes divided in 
four parts. Similar exercises follow now with 
the whole Gift, and the children are led to find 
out all possible divisions in two, three, four, 
five, nine and twelve equal parts. (Figs. 34-44). 




Fig. 34. 




Fig. 3.5. 



Fig. 36. 




Fig. 37. 




Fig. 38. 



^^^ , .f^^ 




Fig. 39. 



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I f / / / 



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Fig. 40. 



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Fig. 41. 




Fig. 42. 




Fig. 43. 




Fig. 



After each such division the equal parts are 
to be placed one upon another, for dividing and 
separating are alwaj's to be followed by a pro- 
cess of coml lining and reuniting. The child thus 
receives everj' time, a transfoi-mation of the 
whole cube, representing the same amount of 
matter in various forms. (Figs. 45-48). 



100 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 




Fig. 45. 




Fig. 46. 





Fig. 51. 



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Fig. 47. 



Fig. 48. 






The child should also be allowed to compare 
with each other the various thirds, quarters, or 
sixths, iuto which whole cubes can be divided, 
as shown in Figs. 35, 36, 37, 38, or 40, 41 
and 42. 

It is understood that all these exercises 
should be accompanied Ijy the living word of 
the teacher; for thereby, only, will the child 
become perfectly conscious of the ideas re- 
ceived from perception, and the opportunity 
is offered to perfect and multiply them. The 
teacher should, however, be careful not to 
speak too much, for it is only necessary to keep 
the attention of the pupil to the object repre- 
sented, and to render impressions more vivid. 

The divisions introduced heretofore are fol- 
lowed by represeutations of regular mathe- 
matical ligures, (planes), as shown in Figs. 
49-52. The manner in which one is formed 
from the preceding one is easily seen from the 
figures themselves. 



Fig. 52. 

As mentioned before, part of the occupa- 
tion described in the preceding pages is to be 
introduced in the Primary Dejiartmeut only, 
where it is combined with other interesting but 
more complicated exercises. Simply to indi- 
cate how advantageously this Gift may be 
used for instruction in geometry in later years, 
we have added P'ig. 56, the representation of 
which shows the child the ■\-isible proof of the 
well-known Pythagorean axiom, by which thf 
theoretical, abstract solution of the same, cer. 
tainly, can alone be facilitated. 




Fig. 53. 





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Fig. 54. 



c 



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Fig. 49. 



Fig. 55. 



-! 



Fig. 50. 




Fig. 56. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



101 



For the continuation of the exercises in 
arithmetic, begun with the previous Gifts, the 
cubes of the present cue are of great use. 
Exercises in addition and subtraction are con- 
tinued more extensively, and by the use of 
these means, the child will be enabled to learn 
what is usually called the multiplication table, 
in a much shorter time and in a much more ra- 
tional way than it could ever be accomplished 
by mere memorizing, without visible objects. 

FORMS OF BEAUTY. 

If we consider that the Fifth Gift is put into 
the hands of pupils when they have reached the 
iifth year, with whom, consequently, if they 
have been treated rationally, the external or- 
gans, the limbs, as well as the senses, and the 
bodily mediators of all mental activity, the 
nerves, and their central organ, the brain, have 
reached a higher degree of development, and 
their physical powers have kept pace with such 
development, we may well expect a somewhat 
more extensive activity of the pupils so pre- 
pared, and be justified in presenting to them 
work requiring more skill and ingenuity than 
that of the pre\'ious Gifts. 

Ami, in fact, the progress with these forms 
is apparently much greater than with the fomis 
of life ; because here the importance of each of 
the thirty-nine parts of the cube can be made 
more prominent. He who is not a stranger in 
mathematics knows that the number of com- 
binations and permutations of thirtj^-nine dif- 
ferent bodies does not count by hundreds, nor 
can be expressed by thousands, but that mill- 
ions hardly sirffice to exhaust all possible com- 
binations. 

Limitations are, therefore, necessary here : 
and these limitations aie presented to us in the 
laws of beauty, according to which the whole 
structure is not only to be formed harmoniously 
in itself, but each main part of it must also 
answer the claims of symmetry. In order to 
comply with these conditions, it is sometimes 
necessary, during the process of building a 
Form of Beauty, to perform certain move- 
ments with various parts simultaneously. In 
such cases it appears advisable to divide the 
activity in its single parts, and allow the child's 
eye to rest on these transition figures, that it 
may become perfectly conscious of all changes 
and phases during the process of development 
of the form in question. This will render more 

See chapter on Forms 



intelligible to the young mind, that real beauty 
can only be produced when one opposite bal- 
ances another, if the proportions of all parts 
are equally regulated Ijy uniting them with one 
common center. 

Another limitation we find in the fact, that 
each fundamental form from which we start 
is di\ided in t^vo main parts — the internal and 
the external — and that if we begin the changes 
or mutations with one of these opposites, they 
are to be continued with it until a certain aim 
be reached. By this process certain small steps 
are created, which enable the child — and, still 
more, the teacher — to control the method ac- 
cording to which the perfect form is reached. 

"Each definite beginning conditions a cer- 
tain process of its own, and however much 
liberty in regard to changes may be allowed, 
they are always to be introduced within cer- 
tain liuiits only." 

Thus, the fundamental form conditions all 
the changes of the whole following series. All 
fundamental forms are distinct from each other 
by their different centers, which may be a 
square, (Fig. 65), a triangle, (Fig. 91), a 
hexagon, octagon, or circle. 

Before the real formation of figures com- 
mences, the chUd should become acquainted 
with the combinations in which the new forms 
of the divided cubes can be brought with each 
other. It takes two half cubes, foi'uis of them 
a whole, and, being guided by the law of op- 
posites, arrives at the forms represented in 
Figs. 57-64, and perhaps at others of less 
significance. 

The following series of Figs. 65-106 are all 
developed one from another, as the careful ob- 
server w-ill easily detect. As it would lead too 
far to show the gradual growing of one from 
another, and all from a common fundamental 
form, we will show only the course of devel- 
opment of Figs. 65-70. 

The fundamental form (Fig. 65) is a stand- 
ing square, formed of nine cubes, and sur- 
rounded by four equilateral triangles. 

The course of development starts from the 
center part. The fom* cubes a move exter- 
nally, (Fig. 66) , the four cubes b do the same, 
(Fig. 67), cubes a move farther to the cor- 
ner of the triangles, (Fig. 68), cubes 6 move 
to the places where cubes a were pre\-iously, 
(Fig. 6;) ) . If all eight cubes continue their 
way in the same manner, we next obtain a 

of Life anti Knowlc'd;re. 



102 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 















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Fig. 76. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



103 












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104 



GOLDExN JUBILEE EDITION. 































































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Fig. 103. 



Fig. 104. 



Fig. 105. 



Fig. 106. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



105 



form in which a aud h remain with their cor- 
ners ou the half of the catheti ; then follows 
a figure like 69 different only iu so far as a and 
h have exchanged positions ; then, iu like man- 
ner follow Figs. 68, 67, 66 aud 6.T. 

■\Ve therefore, discontinue the course. The 
internal cubes so far occupied positions that 
h aud c turned corners, a aud c sides toward 
each other. In Fig. 70 h shows the side and 
a the corner. In Fig. 71, we reach a new fun- 
damental form. Here, not the cubes of the 
internal, but those of the external triangles 
furnish the material for changing the form. 

It is not necessary that the teacher, by 
strictly adhering to the law of development, 
return to the adopted fundamental form. She 
may interrupt the course as we have done, 
and continue according to new conditions. 
But however useful it may l)e to leave free 
scope to the child's own fantasy, we should 
never lose sight of Frcebel's principle, to lead 
to lawful action, to accustom to following a 



definite rule. Nor should we ever forget that 
the child can oul^' derive benefit from its oc- 
cupation, if we do not over-tax the mcasuie 
of its streugth aud abihty. The laws of for- 
mation should, therefore, always be as definite 
and distinct as simple. As soon as the child 
cannot trace back the way iu which you have 
led him iu developing any of the forms of life 
or beauty ; if it can not discover how it arrived 
at a certain poiut, or how to proceed from it, 
the moment has arrived when the occupation 
not only ceases to be useful, but commences 
to be hurtful, and we should always studiously 
avoid that moment. 

In order to facilitate the child's control of 
his activity, it is well to give the cubes, which 
are, so to say, the representatives of the law 
of development, instead of the letters «, 6, c, 
names of some children present, or of friends 
of the pupils. This enlivens the interest iu 
their movements, and the children follow them 
with much more attention. 



EDITORS NOTES. 



In the pre%'ious gifts only the vertical and 
horizontal lines have been introduced, but these 
require their intermediate. The slanting line 
was indicated iu the forms of symmetry made 
with the tliird and fourtli gifts, wheu edge aud 
sides were brought to touch each other, but 
what was only indicated there, now becomes 
permanent by the bodily presence of the cube 
divided diagonally. 

By this division of three cubes into halves 
and three into quarters, a new solid is pre- 
sented — the triangular prism — which permits 
of a greater variety of forms, and gives an op- 
portunity for the exercise of judgment in 
choosing the form which is best adapted for a 
certain purpose. This prism and its proper 
use iu building constitute the chief character- 
istic of the gift. 

Owing to its mauj' parts this gift is much 
in advance of the previous ones, requiring 
greater dexterity and deiicaej' of touch, while 
it affords excellent training to the fingers. 
"Wheu first placed in the hands of the children, 
its greater ciuautity of material and variety of 
form is liable to confuse them ; tliey are apt 
to become bewildered in the dictated exercise, 
and at a loss to know how to manage so much 
material iu free play. Therefore the need of 



quantity should be felt that the material may 
uot be wasted through misuse. 

There are different ways of introducing this 
gift. Some kindergartners think it is best to 
present the triangular prism before the gift is 
offered to the child as a whole, by removing 
one or two cubes from the boxes of the third 
gift and substituting half cubes. Then, after 
the children have examined the form ask ques- 
tions as to the number, the dimensions aud 
shape of the faces, one of which tliey find is 
oblong, two square aud two triangular. When 
they haVe become familiar with the form, then 
give the name triangular prism. 

Have them place the halves according to dic- 
tation aud combine them to form whole cubes. 
After this is done successfully substitute four 
quarters iu place of two halves, and let the 
children study them in a similar way. They 
will notice the quartei-s are one-half as large 
as the half cubes, also that wheu two quarters 
are joined by their square faces the}' have a 
uew square prism. 

Direct one child to put four quarters together 
to make a cube, another to make a long triangu- 
lar prism, another to make a square prism 
two iuclies high. It is well to let each child 
experiment for himself iu building some form 



106 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



of life, as a locomotive, (Fig. 107), or alioiise 
with a roof, wliich helps the rain to rim off 
qiiiclvly, (Fig. 108). 

This small quantity of material will give the 
children facility in combining the new forms, 
and in placing them according to dictation with- 
out being bewildered and diverted. Having 
used these four small and two large triangular 
prisms successfully, the children will be lietter 
IH'epared for the manipulation of the whole gift. 

Another plan is to present the gift as awhole, 
using only one, which stands on the kinder- 
gartner's table, for the first few lessons. Com- 
pare the gift as to size with the third and 



Steps axd BoATnoUfiE. — (Near the landing 
where J\Iary took the small steamboat). Ee- 
move the two upper light-hand cidies and the 
top middle cube. Make a roof of the two 
half cubes by joining their square faces, and 
place on top of the two whole cubes, with the 
triangular faces front and liack, Fig. 110. 






■Jg-A 


ft 


]^ 






llfL 






ILi. 




Fig. 109. 



Fig. 110. 



Fig. 108. 
fourth, then bring out one of the half cubes, 
teach the different faces, dictate as to placing 
iu different directions, give the name, etc. 
Pi-oceed with the quarter cube in the same way, 
until the children are familiar with the form. 

Let them use both half and quarter cubes 
with a single whole cube, combine the halves 
into a whole cube, make the quarters into cul)es, 
square and triangular prisms. Then show the 
children the three ways of dividing the gift 
into thirds — right and left, front and back, up 
and down — letting them come forward to di- 
vide and combine it, using also other objects 
in illustration ; afterward give one-third only 
to each child to work with, or give every third 
child the entire gift and assist him to divide 
the cube into thirds, giving one of these thirds 
to the neighbor on each side. 

The lop layer of each third should consist 
of one whole cube, one composed of halves and 
one of quarters. Familiarize the children with 
the new form by some play which will tend to 
disclose the relationship existing between the 
parts, and lead the children to find resemblances 
between the prism and familiar life forms. The 
following sequence shows the use of one- third 
of the gift. 

FIRST SEQUENCE.* 

Mary's \'i8it to her uncle, who is a light- 
house keeper in one of the small Atlantic towns. 
One-third of the gift with cubes running right 
and left, is placed before each child, Fig. 109. 

* Note references to these sequence 



Steajiboat. — Combine the two halves which 
form the roof of the boathouse, into a cube, 
placing it at the left of the steps. Place one 
of the remaining cubes on top of the right-hand 
cube, and tlie other at the right. Remove the 
quartered culic, ])lacing oue of the quarters on 
top of the lower left-hand cube, with its oblong 
face against the upper left-hand cube, and ita 
square face slanting to the left. Take another 
(quarter and stand it on a triangular face at the 
left of the lower left-hand cube, touching it 
by its square face. Form the remaining two 
(juarters into a square prism, and stand it on 
top of the upper left-hand cube, face front. 
Fig. 111. 

Fort. — ("Which is passed on the way). Of 
the two separated quarters, form a square 
prism and stand on toii of the upper right-hand 
cube, face front. Lift the iqiper three cubes 
and prisms, placing them back of, and touch- 
ing those they stand on, Fig. 112. 



^=i-^=' ^ ^ y - 













Fig. 111. Fig. 112. 

Boat. — (Also passed on the way). Remove 
the two square prisms, and move the back row 
one inch back. Take the right-hand front cube 
and place in the center, connecting the two 
rows. Separate the left-hand front cube, and 
place over the front and back middle cubes, 
with the square faces slanting right and 
left. Stand one of the quarters on its triangular 
face, at each end of the four right and left cubes 
touching them by square faces. Fig. 113. 

Boat Landing. — (Where Mary is met by 
her cousins). Remove the four quarters and 

■^ in the chapter on Forms of Life. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



107 



combine into two square prisms. Combine the 
two halves into a whole cube antl place at the 
right of the front row. Eemove the center con- 
necting cube and place at the right of the 
back row. Pusli the two rows together, and 
stand the two prisms on top of tlie right and 
left front cubes, faces front, these forming the 
posts to whicli the steamer is tied, Fig. 11-1. 





Fig. lU. 

LiGHTHOCSE. — (Where she finds her uncle) . 
Remove the square prisms and the di\ided 
cube. Lift the four back cubes and place in 
a standing position on top of the front left- 
hand cube. Place the right-hand cube on top 
of the cube to its left. Of the two half cubes 
make roofs, with the square faces slanting 
front and back. Lay one of the square prisms 
against the lower right-hand cube, and the 
other in front of the tower, touching b^' ob- 
long faces, Fig. 115. 

Uncle's House. — Lift the upper two cubes 
and roof of the tower and place against the 
left of the tower. Turn the half cubes with 
their square faces touching the center culie, 
the oblong faces slanting right and left. Ee- 
move the prism at the right and coudjine into 
a half cube, placing it on top of the middle 
cube, with the triangular face front. Fig. 116. 





Fig. 115. 



Fig. lie. 



Barn, Wagon Sheb and Well House. — Re- 
move the steps. Lift the center cube and roof, 
and place in front of and against the lower 
left-hand cube, for the shed. Move the right- 
hand half cube over against the other half cube 
to foi'm a roof. Move the two right-hand cubes 
two inches to the front, and one inch to the 
right. Join the quarter cubes which formed 
the steps into a half cube and place on top of 



these cubes with triangular face front, for the 
well house, Fig. 117. 

Church. — (Which they attended on the 
Sabbath ) . Remove tlie roof of the wagon slied 
and form into a square prism. Place the well 
house on top of the shed and move this tower 
to the left of the barn, roof slanting right and 
left. Lay the prism in front of the tower, 
touching bv its oblong; face. Fig. 118. 






m 










-^ 





Fig. 118. 

Mauy's Hume. — (Where she returns after 
spending many happy days). Remove the 
right-hand side of the church, and place it 
against the left of the tower. Turn the half 
cubes on tlieir oblong faces for the roof, the 
square faces slanting front and back, Fig. 119. 




"Ulien the sequence is ended each child builds 
up his third of the cube, the three parts are 
pushed together and are ready to go into the 
boxes. 

.SECOXD SEQUENCE. 

This sequence shows how a third of the gift 
may be combined to produce one form. 

Country Home of a Wealthy Lady. — 
(Who loves little children). One third of the 
gift is placed before each child , the top layer 
removed and placed tn^o inches in front. Take 
the two right-hand cubes and stand in front of 
the left-hand cubes. Combine the two half 
cubes and place on the liaclv row of cubes for 
a roof, the oblong faces slanting right and left. 
Take the remaining whole cube, place one of 
the quarters on top, triangular face front, and 
stand at the right of the two front cubes. Com- 
bine two quarters into a square prism, with the 
remaining culie on lop, triangidar face front, 
and stand upon the left front cubes, Fig. 120. 



108 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



Barn'. — (Standing back of the house, ■where 
the cows and horses are kept, and where the 
children like to climb the hajnnow to hunt 
eggs, and watch Mrs. Puss and her Icittens 
frolic and play). Move the liack half two 
inches back, Fig. 121. 





Fig. 120. 



Fig. 121. 



Tent. — (Where the hostess was obliged to 
shelter a number of "fresh air" children whom 
she entertained). Take the roof off the barn 
and place it one inch back. Take the upper 
two cubes of the l)aru and place in front of the 
lower two, Fig. 122. 

Cottage. — (At a summer resort notfardis- 
taut, where the daughter is stopping, and to 
which the children are driven behind Grey and 
Dapple for a day's pleasure) . Remove the quar- 
ter cubes from the house, place the reniaining 
three cubes in the center of the four back cubes, 
front and back, the two cubes to the front. 
Join the quarter cubes into twolong triangular 
prisms, and place on their oblong faces at the 
right and left of the center cubes for a roof, 
the square faces slanting right and left. Place 
the two half-culies on the front and back mid- 
dle cubes for roofs, triangular faces front and 
back, Fig. 123. 



^ 


^ 




/^ 














^ 






1;^ 






9 






Fig. 122. 



Fig. 123. 



To combine the thirds : — 

Summer Hotel. — (Near the beach). Re- 
verse the cottages so that the liacks will face 
you. Let the child that divided the cii))e, re- 
move the quarters from his cottage and form 
two square prisms, on which his neighbor on 
each side pLaces the back half cube from his 
cottage, and stands this with triangular face 
front, on the back middle cube. The right and 
left cottages are then moved imtil they touch 
the middle one, Fig. 124. 

These stories may be enlarged upon, and 



the sequences shortened or lengthened, accord- 
ing to the capacity of the children, At the 
close of the exercise the borrowed parts are 
returned, so that the thirds may be built up as 
they were at the beginning. Later on, the 
thirds may be divided by three different waj's 
into nine, and those into twenty-seven parts ; 
thus it will be seen that much mathematical 
knowledge may be gained through this gift. 




/ m w "Q- 


E . ~I 




Fig. 124. 

If the entire gift is presented without any 
preliminary step, it should be used so simply 
that the child will feel delight in his material. 
Have the blocks arranged so that when taken 
from the box, the cubes will be uniform as to 
position and arrangement, the upper face show- 
ing the vertical, horizontal and slanting line, 
also three squares, six right isosceles triangles 
of one size and twelve smaller ones. 

The children should become thoroughly ac- 
quainted with the number of whole and divided 
cubes, that they may be able to make free and 
full use of the gift, and they will readily learn 
to lift the ui)per face with its twenty-one pieces, 
and place it unbroken on the table. 

Allow free scope to the childish imagination, 
and as with new material, free plaj' directed 
l)y the kindergartner affords the best oppor- 
tunity for self-aetivitj', it is well to let the chil- 
dren build each his own form, the teacher 
connecting all their various creations by some 
little improvised story. 

The combination of the cubes to form geo- 
meterical figures is full of interest, and the 
evolution of one form from another, important 
in developing the child. From a rectangular 
prism have the children develop the rhoml)oidal 
prism, from this the tr.apezoidal, then the pen- 
tagonal and hexagonal. 

The educating power of this gift is wonder- 
ful, and there seems no limit to its constructive 
power. It gives a laige number of the most 
varied and beautiful forms of symmetrj', and 
a strong impression is made, that real beauty 
can only be produced when one opposite bal- 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



109 



ances another, if all the parts are equally reg- 
ulated by uniting them with one common cen- 
ter. The directions for forming these transi- 
tion figures should be direct and simple, so 
that the child can return to the original form, 
l)y reversing the movements without taxing 
him too much. 

The material is i)articularly adapted to 
architecture, and the forms of life come very 
near to reality on account of the prisms, which 
aid materially witli their slanting sm-faces to 
represent roofs, chimuej's, towers, etc. The 
method followed in the handling of this ma- 
terial gives a suie guide for bringing order out 
of all rnanifoldness of form. The following 
sequence shows the use of the entire gift. 

THIRD SEQUENCE. 

Entire gift as placed before each child, 
Fig. 125. " 

Triumphal Arch. — Move the back row of 
cubes two inches back and to the left. Remove 
the upper layer of half culjes, then separate 
into three columns, covering the right and left 
column with a half culje for a roof, and the 
center column with two halves joined by square 
faces. This forms three towers. Next move 
the front row of cubes to the right and on a 
line with what was the middle row, lea^-ing a 
half -inch space between. Move the right-hand 



and the left-hand tower so it stands on the 
cubes at its right. Remove the right and left 
columns and of the right column make a base 
of two cubes with the third cube over the cen- 
ter, and on top of this place the half cube with 
triangular face front. Do the same with the 
left-hand column, then push these against the 
front of the doul)le columns. Fig. 127. 




Fig. 125. 
column half an inch to the right, and the left- 
hand column one half-inch to the left, and 
over these three openings stand the towers, 
with triangular faces front and back, the tower 
with the double roof lieiug placed over the 
center opening. The two remaining halves 
place right and left of the outside towers, with 
the oblong faces slanting away from the towers. 
Fig. 126. 

Gates of a Walled City. — Move the right- 
hand tower so it stands on the cubes at its left 




Fig. 126. 

Cathedral. — Remove these two front pieces 
and the towers. Place the sis left-hand cubes 
at the back of the six right-hand cubes, form- 
ing a square prism, three cubes high. Against 
the right and left of this prism, place the two 
front pieces so that the roofs slant front and 
back. Take the four halves from the towers 
and combine them into a roof for the top of 
the prism, the oblong faces slanting right and 





Fig. 12.S. 

left. Place the two towers together and stand 
them in front of the square prism. Lay the 
remaining tower directly in front of these, for 
steps. Fig. 128. 

From tills form the children may easily re- 
turn to the whole cube. In using the entire 
gift, each child might di^^de the gift into thirds 
using each third for a different form, making 
different buildings in a town. 



FIFTH GIFT B* 



This gift combines cylindrical with culiical 
forms and is in the line of the further develop- 
ment of the series of building blocks which 
Frwbel evidently intended to carry out, as it 
is obvious that after the lilocks containing 
straight forms derived from the cube have been 
presented, the round forms derived from the 
sphere and cylinder should follow. 

This gift contains twelve whole cubes, three 
quartered cubes, eight hollowed cubes, and 
twelve half-cylinders. Like the fifth gift it is 
separated into three layers, one above the other. 

The first layer consists of nine whole cubes, 
Fig. 1 ; the second layer presents three whole 
cubes, three quartered cubes, and three cylin- 
ders halved lengthwise. Fig. 2 ; the third and 
upper layer has eight hollowed cubes and six 
half- cylinders. Fig. 3. 



Have them combine two half -cylinders with 
the cube and they have the oval. Fig. 6, and 
with four half -cylinders they obtain the double 
oval. Fig. 7. 

Compare the half-cylinder with the triangu- 
lar prism and combine the two by square faces, 
Fig. 8. 

Place a half-cylinder and a triangular jirism 




Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fig. ;!. 

In jircsenting this gift let tlie children find 
familiar forms first, and when they have be- 
come acquainted with the new elements in the 
gift, they may find the simple combination of 
these forms, one with another. They will rec- 
ognize the cube and the triangular prism of the 
fifth gift, and the kindergartner should then call 
attention to the half-cylinder. Ask how many 
faces they find ? How many are curved ? how 
many are straight? They will notice that one 
face is a square like the face of the cube, that 
two are the form of a half-circle. Fig- 4, and 
that the fourth is a cnn-ed surface. 

i d^ CD 

Fig.4. Fig. 6. Fig. 6. Fig. 7. Fig. 8. 

Ask how many edges the half cylinder has? 
On.t of the six edges how many are straight ? 
How riuMiy are curved ? How many corners 
are there ? 

Let the children combine two half-cjdinders 
and they will recognize their old friend the cylin- 
der, Fig. 5. By comparing the cylinder and 
cube the children will find they are of the same 
dimensions. 






Fig.;i. Fig. 10. Fig. 11. Fig. 12. Fig. 13. 
on opposite sides of the cube, joining it by 
square faces, so one end will be rounded and 
the opposite end pointed. 

Bring out the peculiarities of the hollowed 
cube. Fig. 9. Call attention to the faces, which 
number seven ; two of them are square like the 
face of the cube ; two others are oblongs, just 
one half as large ; one is a hollow curved sur- 
face, and the top and bottom faces are equal, 
being a square with a quarter circle removed 
from one corner. Fig. 10. 

Ask how many edges they find on this form ; 
how many are straight, how many are curved ? 
What is the number of corners ? Let the chil- 
dren combine two of these hollowed cubes by 
oblong faces and an arch is obtained, Fig. 11, 





Fig. 15. Fig. 16. 

these forms being especially adapted to that 
purpose. A combination of three hollowed 
cubes, forms three quarters of a circle, Fig. 12, 
and by uniting four an entire circle is made, 
showing a hollow center into which the cylinder 
may be fitted. Fig. 13. By joining the square 
faces instead of the oblong we have Fig. 14, 
and l)y combining with the half-cylinder, we 
have the undulating curve, as seen in Figs. 15 
and 16. 

After the children have seen the gift as a 
whole and have become acquainted with the 
ditferent forms, it is well to separate it into 
three layers, that the children may find the 
number of parts and the arrangement of each. 

These exercises may be given gradually, the 



* Tliis gift is less often used than otliers, but its curved pieces add new and interesting buliding forms. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



Ill 



kindergartner being careful that the child ob- style of architecture being ]5rominent in the life 
•sei-ves with clearness and decision, advancing forms of which the accompanying illustrations 
him only as he is capable of making intelligent only serve as a hint to the possibiUties of this 
use of his materials. 

FOEMS OF LIFE. 




Fig. 17. 
Ruins of a Cloister. 




Monument. 




Fig. IS. 
A Portion of a Wall. 





Fig. 22. 
Gate of a Fortress. 




Fig. 19. 
Ancient Citv Gate. 



Fig. 23. 
Railroad Train on Bridge. 



k 








^ 


- ^ 


\ 




y 





Fig. 20. 



Royal Archway. 




Railroad Station. 



The curved line of this gift gives a special gift, which may be brought out under the skill- 
importance to the exercises^ Arches and round f ul direction of the kindergartner and the full 
columns mav now be constructed, the Roman and careful attention of the children. 



112 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 





Fia:. 28. 



Fisi. 25. 



Monument. 





Fis. 29. 



Portico. 

FORMS OF SYMMETRY. 

The fcmis of symmetry are treated iu the 
same way as those of the previous gifts. Se- 
quences may easily be developed and figures 
constructed which are varied and pleasing in 
design, the rounded forms of the gift giving a 
peculiar characteristic of their own. 



^ 




Fig. 30. 



Fig. 27. 

We give but a few illustrations, leaving the 
teacher free to follow her own ideas. 

In the forms of knowledge, the child's at- 
tention should be directed to those which are 
the most simple, as Figs. 5, 0, 7, 11, 12 and 




Fig. 31. 
13, the children of the kindergarten being too 
young to grasp the special mathematical truths 
which may be derived by means of this gift. 



THE SIXTH GIFT.* 
LARGE CUBE, CONSISTING OF DOUBLY DIVIDED OBLONG BLOCKS. 



As the Third and Fifth Gifts form an es- 
pecial sequence of development, so the Fointh 
and Sixth are intimately connected with each 
other. The latter is, so to say, a higher po- 
tence of the former, permitting the observa- 
tion in greater clearness, of the qualitie's, rela- 
tion, and laws, introduced previously. 



tensive hollow space, than was possible, for 
instance, with the cubes of the P'ifth Gift. 
Innumerable forms can therefore be produced 
with this Gift, and the attention and interest 
of the pupil will be constantly increased. 

This very variety, however, should induce 
the careful teacher to prevent the child's purely 



The Gift contains twenty-seven oblong blocks accidental production of forms. It is always 



of the same dimensions as those of the Fourth 
Gift. Of these twenty-seven blocks, eighteen 
are whole, six are divided breadthwise, each 
in two squares, and three by a lengthwise cut, 
each in two columns ; altogether making thirty- 
six pieces. 

The children soon become acquainted with 
this Gift, as the variety of forms is much less 



necessary to act according to certain rules and 
laws, to reach a certain aim. The established 
principle, that one form should always be de- 
rived from another, can he carried out here 
only with great difficulty, owing to the peculi- 
arity of the matei'ial. It is therefore frequently 
necessary, particularly with the more compli- 
cated structures, to lay an entirely new foun- 



than in the preceding one, where by an oblique dation for the building to be erected. 



division of the cubes, an entirely new radical 
principle was introduced. 

It is here, therefore, maiuly the proportions 
of size of the oblong and square blocks, and 
columns contained in this Gift and the number 
of each kind of these bodies, about which the 
child has to become enlightened, before engag- 
ing in building — playing, creating — with this 
new material. 

The cube is placed upon the table — all parts 
are disjoined — then equal parts collected into 
groups, and the child is then asked, ''How 
many blocks have you altogether? How many 
oblong blocks ? how many square blocks ? how 
many columns? Compare the sides of the blocks 
with another, take an oblong block, how many 
square blocks do you need to cover it ? how 
many columns? 

Place the oblong block upon its long edge, 
now upon its shortest side — and state how 
many square blocks or columns you need in 
order to reach its height, in either case." Ex- 
ercises of this kind will instruct the child suf- 
ficiently to allow it to proceed, in a short time 
to the individual creating, or producing occu- 
pation with this new Cxift. 

FORMS OF LIFE. 

It is the forms of life, particularly, for which 
this Gift provides material, far better fitted, 
thiiij any previously used. The oblong blocks 
admit of a much larger extension of the plane, 
and allow the enclosure of a much more ex- 



It is necessary, at all times, to follow the 
child in his operations — his questions should 
always be answered and suggestions made to 
enlarge the circle of ideas. 

It affords an abundance of pleasure to a child 
to obse-i've that we understand him and his 
work, it is, therefore, a great mistake in edu- 
cation to neglect to enter fully into the spirit 
of the pupil's sphere of thinking and acting ; 
and if we ever should allow ourselves to go so 
far as to ridicule his productions instead of 
assisting him to improve on them, we would 
commit a most fatal error. 

The selections of forms of life, nearly all of 
which are in the meantime forms of art and 
knowledge, because of their architectural fun- 
damental forms and the mathematical propor- 
tions of their single parts, can, therefore, not 
fail to give uouiishment to various powers of 
the mind. 




House 
door. 



Fig. 1. 



Without Roof ; back wall has no 



* Some kindergarteners find it preferable to use the Sixtli gift before the Fifth. With the use of the 
enlarged Fifth Gift the handling of quarters and halves becomes less trying. The quarter cubes of the small 
Fifth Gift make nervous work for many children. The small pieces of the Sixth Gift are handled with less 
difficulty, hence the tendency to introduce it first. 



m 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 




C3 



Fiff. 2. 
Ground Plan for House. 





Fig. 3. 
Colonuade. First row, five oblong blocks 
laid lengthwise, and back wall consisting of 
ten standing oblong blocks upon which are ten 
square blocks. 




Fig. 7. 
Monument in Honor of Some Fallen Hero. 
First row, eight ol)long blocks ; second, square 
of nine square blocks, partiality constructed of 
oblong blocks ; third, four single square blocks ; 
then four columns, four single square blocks, 
square of four square blocks, etc.' 



Fig. 4. 
Hall, with Columns. 





Fig. 5. 
Summer House. Vestibule formed by six 
columns. 



Fig. 8. 
Facade of a Large House. 





Fig. 6. 
Memorial Column of the Three Friends. 



Fig. 9. 
The Columus of the Three Heroes. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



115 




Fig. 10. 

Eutvance to Hall of Fame. First roTV, sLs 
square and six oblong blocks ; second row, six 
oblong blocks ; third row, six square blocks, etc. 




Fig. 11. 
Two Storv House. 



Fig. 12. 



Facade. 



Fig. 13. 
Covered Summer House. 





-Jir- 


-w 


s. 


^ 


"^1 — 




1 


















! 


J 




l-J 


1 




4 J 


1 ■ 


4 


- 


1 4 


1 


i 






1^ 


Lr*-r 


1 






ITHZI 


^ 



Fig. 14. 
Front 'S'iew of a Factory. 




Fig. 15. 
Double Colonnade. 




Fig. 16. 



An Altar. 




Fig. 17. 



Monument. 



116 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 




Fig. 18. 
Co'lumus of Coucord. 

The fantasy of the child is inexhaustiblj' 
rich iu inveutiug new forms. It creates gar- 
dens, yards, stables "vvith horses and cattle, 
household furniture of all kinds, beds with 
sleeping brothers and sisters in them, tables, 
chairs, sofas, etc., etc. 

If several children combine tlieir individual 
building they produce large structures, perfect 



barnyards •vvith all outbuildings in them, nay, 
whole villages and towns. The idea that in 
union there is strength, and that by co-opera- 
tion great things may be accomplished, will 
thus early become manifest to tlie young mind. 
FORMS OF KNOAVLEDGE. 

These also appear in much smaller numbers 
compared with the richness and nudtiplicity of 
the Fifth Gift. By the absence of oblique (ob- 
tuse and acute) angles, they are limited to the 
square and oblong, and exercises introduced 
with these previously, may be repeated uere 
witli advantage. 

All Fro-bel's Gifts are remarkable for the 
peculiar feature that they can be rendered ex- 
ceedingly instructive by frequently introducing 
repetitious under varid conditions and forms, 
by which means we are sure to avoid that dry 
and fatiguing monotony which must needs re- 
sult from repeating the same thing in the same 
manner and form. And still more, the child, 
thereb}', becomes accustomed to recognize like 
in unlike, similarity in dissimilarit}', oneness 
in multiplicity, and connection iu the appar- 
ently disconnected. 

In Figs. ll)-2.5 all squares that can be formed 
with the Sixth Gift are represented. In Fig. 26 
we see a transition from the forn)s of knowl- 
edge to those of beauty. 



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Fig. 25. 



Fig. 26. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



117 



FORMS OF BEAUTY. 

The forms of beauty of this Gift offer far 
less diversity than those of Gift No. 5 ; owing, 
however, to the peculiar proportions of the 
plane, they present sufHeieut opportunitj- for 
characteristic representations, not to be neg- 
lected. 

VTe give in Figs. 27-41 a single succession 
of development of such forms. The progres- 
sive changes are easily recognized, as the ob- 
long block, which needs to be moved to pro- 
duce the following figure, is always marlied hj 
a letter. The center-piece always consists of 



two of the little columns, standing one upon 
another, and important modifications may be 
produced by using the oblong blocks in lying 
or standing positions. By employing the four 
little columns in various ways many pleasant 
changes can be produced by them. 

With the Sixth Gift we reach the end of the 
two series of develoinnent given by Froeliel in 
the building blocks, whose aim is to acquaint 
the child with the general qualities of the solid 
body by his own obseiwatiou and occupation 
vnth the same. 




Flo-. .30. 



V\s. 31. 



Fio-. 32. 




Fig. 33. 



Fig. 34. 



Fig. 



118 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 





























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Fig. 39. 



Fig. 40. 
EDITOR'S NOTES. 



Fig. 41. 



While as a ivhole, this gift is more like the 
fiftli it surpasses that gift iu its constructive 
capacitj', the forms built being more complete 
and finished, and requiring more delicacy of 
touch, as they are of a lighter and more grace- 
ful style of structure and more easily destroyed. 

The column, which is the chief characteristic 
of the gift, and which was foreshadowed in the 
fifth gift when two quarters were joined by 
square faces, enal)les the children to build high 
structures resembling Grecian architecture, be- 
side many other pleasing forms which are de- 
pendent upon it. 

In its parts this gift most resembles the 
fourth gift, and the forms like the bricks of 
that gift, can stand, lie or sit; the different 
parts also serve in measuring length, breadth 
and height. 



Although not so rich and varied in forms of 
sjniimetrj' and knowledge, this gift is more 
suitable for the construction of life forms than 
any of the previous ones, and the number is al- 
most unlimited, the material being especially 
adapted for the forming of apertures. It al- 
lows the use of more forms of comparison than 
the other gifts, and emphasizes the proportion 
of different parts in respect to size, giving a 
clear idea of forms, their number and position. 

Iu introducing this gift, let the children see if 
they can find auj' old friends among the forms, 
then count the edges, faces and corners of the 
brick, cohnnn and square plinth. Have them 
compare the column and brick, the square plinth 
and brick, and the column and square plinth. 
Lead them to see how the forms may vary iu 
size and shape and yet be equal in volume. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



119 



/lompare this gift with the fifth aud point out 
the different waj's of di^•idingeach. By sepa- 
rating tliis gift into six layers the children may 
learu the number of bricks, columns and square 
plinths contained in it. The gift may be di- 
vided among three children by separating it 
into three groups, each consisting of two layers 
which tliey will see is one third of tlie gift. The 
lajing out of the gift and the building of one 
form may constitute a lesson. Then these 
forms may be built and joined together ; after- 
ward these steps may all be retraced to the 
layer, or the gift may be built up direct from 
the last form. 

Let the children experiment in finding and 
using the form which is best adapted for a cer- 
tain purpose, and they will soon see how the 
column is fitted to jneet certain needs. Give 
simple directions and let them worii out the 
rest for themselves, having a definite purpose 
in view. Asli questions as to which form is 
best suited for theu- purpose, aud lead them 
through the ideas of proportion and form to 
reach certain results, never losing siglit of the 
idea of unity in any building the children may 
do. As soon as the children are able, let each 
child have a whole gift, then sequences may be 
given aud connected by a story. 

A LIFE SEQLT:NCE. 

Separate the gift, (Fig. 42) into sis laj^ers, 
three of which shall each contain three bricks 
and three square plinths ; the other three should 
consist of three bricks, two columns and one 




face, in front and against the center of the base 
and the remaining brick on the one just placed 
so that its narrow face will touch the square 
plinths. These bricks form the steps. Make 
two similar figures with the remaining two 
thirds, as in Fig. 44. 




Fig. 43. 

Place two of these thirds back to back so 
that the steps will face to the right and left ; 
and against the front of this figure, place the 
steps from the remaining third, the upper brick 




Fig. 44. 
touching the square plinths, leaving the under 
brick one half inch from tlie base. Lift the 
remaining part of the third form with the ex- 
ception of the three liricks which make the base, 
and stand on top of the other two thirds, with 
the columns right and left. On this stand one 
of the remaining three bricks, the narrow face 
front. Form steps of the other two bricks and 
place in the rear, as in Fig. 4.5. 




square plinth, which are placed one inch back 
of the former three layers, as in Fig. 43. The 
front and back right-hand layers form one third 
of the gift, witii which we first build. 

Take two square plinths and place in the cen- 
ter of the right and left bricks of the front layer. Fig. 45. Fig. 46. 
On each square plinth stand a column, face Remove the standing brick, then lift the 
front, and place a square plinth on top of each upper part of this form down to the square 
column. Then lay a brick from right to left on plinths which are on top of the lower columns, 
its broad face, on top of the two square plinths and put it one side, after having placed the 
just placed. Lay another brick on its broad removed brick between the two lower bricks to 



120 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



form a base of three Ijricks. Take away the 
steps aud place four of the bricks on their 
broad faces, on top of the four square plinths, 
the sides running right and left. On these 
place the remaining four bricks on their broad 
faces, the sides running front and back. Then 
stand the form which was put one side in the 
center of these four bricks, the columns being 
on the right and left. Fig. 46. 

Remove the top, including the base of three 
bricks, and place at the right of the figure, the 
bases touching by edges. Remove the remain- 




Of the two archways form steps for the three 
sections aud we have the three original thirds, 
which the children may easily separate into 
layers, aud then build up into the gift, the 
layers alternating. 

A BEAUTY SEQUENCE. 

The fundamental form is an enclosed hexa- 
gon made with all the bricks, three of them 
forming each side of the hexagon. Within the 
enclosed space is a hexagon formed with square 
plinths, the face of each plinth being directly 
opposite the central brick of the outer hexagon. 
In the spaces of the large hexagon is a square 
plinth touching adjacent sides by corners, and 
at the outer edge of the plinth is a column touch- 
ing the center of each plinth by its square face, 
Fig. 49. 



Fig. 47. 

ing two layers of Itricks down to the square 
plinths on the columns and place two of the 
bricks with edges running front and back, on 
top of the center and left hand square plinths, 
forming a figure similar to that on the right 
hand. Place two bricks on their narrow faces 
above the opening at the right with the edges 
extending over it. Cover these with a brick 
placed on its broad face. Repeat this over the 
opening at the left, as in Fig. 47. 




Fig. 48 



Remove the six bricks just placed on top, 
and then turn the three sections of the figure 
Lialf-way round, placing them in a line running 
right and left, with an opening one inch wide 
between the sections. Stand a brick with 
narrow^ face front, upon the exposed corners of 
the four center square plintlis, and cover with 
the two remaining bricks placed on their broad 
faces, forming two archways. Fig. 48. 




Fig. 49. 

Push the center l)rick of each side of the 
hexagon toward the inner hexagon until their 
small faces meet, Fig. 50. 

Remove the square plinths forming the inner 
hexagon to the space directly opposite on the 
outer hexagon. Form a new inner hexagon 
with the square faces of the columns, Fig. 51. 

Push the bricks back to their original posi- 
tions. Fig. 52. 

Move the square plinths in the spaces out 
until two angles are in line with the angles of 
the adjacent bricks. Remove the columns 
from the center to the outside, and let them 
touch the plinths bj' their long faces. Fig. 53. 

Push the center brick of each side of the hexa- 
gon toward the center of the form, the angles 
meeting and outlining a small hexagon, Fig. 54. 




PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 12I 



Fiff. 50. 




Fig. 51. 





Fis. 54. 



Fig. 52. 




122 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



Turn the square plinths with one angle Move the plinths nearest the hexagon to the 
toward the center of the form, Fig. 55. spaces of the hexagon. Move the center bricks 

Move the columns along until they touch the back to their original positions, Fig. 57. 

Change the cohnnns so that they will touch 







Fig. 56. Fig. 57. 

outer angle of the plinth next to them by the the last plinths moved by their square faces, 

center of their long faces. Move the remain- Place the remaining plinths in the center to 

ing plinths to touch the columns on their outer f onn a small hexagon, and we have the origi- 

faces by an angle, Fig. 56. nal form 



THE SEVENTH GIFT.* 

SQUARE AXD TRIANGULAR TABLETS FOR LAYING OF FIGURES. 



■\Vith the tablets the embodied planes, the 
child cannot represent a sofa, but a form simi- 
lar to it ; an image of the sofa can be produced 
by an-anging the squares and triangles in a 
certain order. 

"We shall see, at some future time, how 
FrcBbel continues on this road, progressing 
from the plane to the line, from the line to 
the point and finally enables the child to draw 
the image of the object, with pencil or pen in 
his own little hand. 

THE QUADRANGULAR LAYING T^Ui- 
LETS (Squares). 

(See Figs, i — 15). 

In a similar way as was done with the va- 
rious building gifts, the child is led to an ac- 
quaintance with the various qualities of the 
new material, and to compare it with other 
things, possessing similar qualities. It is ad- 
visable to let the child understand the connec- 
tion existing between this and the previous 
gifts. The laying tablets are nothing but the 
embodied planes, or separated sides of the 
cube. Cover all the sides of a cube with 
square tablets and after the child has recog- 
nized the cube in the body thus formed, let it 
separate the tablets one by one, from the cube 
hidden by them. 

The following, or similar questions are here 
to be introduced : — What is the form of this 
tablet? How many sides has it? How many 
angles ? Look carefully at the sides. Are they 
alike or unlike each other? They are all alike. 
Now look at the corners. These also are all 
alike. Where have you seen similar figures? 

What are such figures called ? Can you show 
me angles somewhere else? Where the two 
walls meet is an angle. Here, there and every- 
where you find angles. 

But all angles are not alike, and they are 
therefore differently named. All these dif- 
ferent names you will learn successively, but 
now let us turn to our tablet. Place it right 
straight before you upon the table. Can you 
tell me now what direction these two sides 
have which form the angle? The one is hori- 
zontal, the other vertical. An angle which is 
formed if a vertical meets a horizontal line, is 
called a right angle. How many of such 

* Comparatively little use should be made of all Gifts iu tlie flat; once weekly is sufficient. See Chapter on 
"Less Mathematics in the Kindergarten." The enlarged tablets and sticks are desirable. The moving of the 
tiny pieces is considered nervous work for young children. The tablets are sometimes used with the blocks, as, 
after building a table, use circular tablets for plates. 



All mental development begins with con- 
crete bemgs. The material world with its mul- 
tiplicity of manifestations first attracts the 
senses and excites them to activity, thus caus- 
ing the rudimental operations of the mental 
powers. Gradually — only after maiay proc- 
esses, little defined and explained by any sci- 
ence as yet, have taken place — man becomes 
enabled to proceed to higher mental activity, 
from the original impressions made upon his 
senses by the various surroundings in the ma- 
terial world. 

The earliest impressions, it is true, if often 
repeated, leave behind them a lasting trace 
on the mind. But between this attained pos- 
sibility to recall once-made observations to 
represent the oljject perceived by our senses, 
by mental image (imagination), and the real 
thinking or reasoning, the real pure abstrac- 
tion, there is a very long step, and nothing iu 
our whole system of education is more worthy 
of consideration than the sudden and abrupt 
transition from a life in the concrete, to a life 
of more or less abstract thinking to which our 
children are submitted when entering school 
from the parental house. 

Fra'bcl, by a long series of occupation ma- 
terial, has successfully bridged over this chasm 
which the child has to traverse, and the first 
place among it, the laying tablets of various 
forms occupy. 

The series of tablets is contained 
boxes containing : — 

A. Quadrangular square tablets. 

B. Right angular (equal sides). 

C. Equilateral. 

D. Obtuse angular (equal sides) 

E. Right angular (unequal sides) 
The child was heretofore engaged with solid 

bodies, and in the representation of real things. 
He produced a house, garden, sofa, etc. It is 
true the sofa was not a sofa as it is seen in 
reality; the one built by the child, was there- 
fore, so to say, an image already, but it was 
a bodily image, so much so that the child 
could place upon it a little something repre- 
senting his doll. The child considered it a 
real sofa, and so it was to the child, fulfilling, 
as it did, iu his little world, the purposes of 
St real sofa in real life. 



five 



Trian- 
gular 
tablets. 



124 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



angles can you count on your tablet? Four. 
Show me such right angles somewhere else. 

By the acquisition of this linowledge the 
child has made an important step forward. 
Looking for horizontal and vertical lines, and 
for right angles, he is led to investigate more 
deeply the relations of form, which he had 
heretofore observed only in regard to the size 
conditioned by it. 

The child's attention should be drawn to the 
fact that, however the tablet may be placed 
the angles always remain right angles though 
the lines are horizontal and vertical only in 
four positions of the tablet, namely, those 
where the edges of the tablet are placed in the 
same direction with the lines on the table be- 
fore the child. This will give occasion tu lead 
the child to a general perception of the stand- 
ing or hanging of objects according to the 
plummet. 

But the tablet will force still another obser- 
vation upon the child. The opposite sides 
have an equal direction ; they are the same 
distance from each other in all their points ; 
they never meet, however many tablets the 
child may add to each other to form the lines. 

The child learns that such lines are called 
parallel lines. He has observed such lines 
frequently before this, but begins just now to 
understand their real being and meaning. He 
looks now with much more interest than ever 
before at surrounding tables, chairs, closets. 



houses, with their straight line ornaments, 
for now the little cosmopolitan does not only 
receive the impressions made by the surround- 
ings upon his senses, but he already looks for 
something in them, an idea of which lives in 
his mind. Although unconscious of the fact 
that with the right angle and the parallel line, 
he received the elements of architecture, it 
will pleasantly incite him to new observations 
whenever he finds them again in another ob- 
ject which attracts his attention. 

The teacher in remembrance of our oft- 
repeated hints, will proceed slowly, and care- 
fully, according to the desire and need of the 
child. She repeats, explains, leads the chiL", 
to make the same observations in the most 
different objects, and changing circumstances, 
or guides the child in laying other forms of 
knowledge, (lying or standing parallelograms 
Fig. 4 and 5), of life, (Steps, Fig. 6 and 8, 
double steps. Fig. 7 and 9, door. Fig. 10, sofa. 
Fig. 11, cross, Fig. 12), or forms of beauty, 
(Figs. 13, 14 and 15). 

The number of these forms is on the whole 
only very limited. It is well now to augment 
the number of tablets in the hands of the pu- 
pil, by two, when a much larger number of 
forms can be produced. The various series 
of forms of beauty, introduced with the third 
Gift, can be repeated here and enlarged upon, 
according to the change in the material now 
at the disposal of the child. 





























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Fig. 2. Fig. 3. Fig. 4. Fig. 5. Fig. 6. Fig. 7. 



Fig. 8. 




^ig. 9. Fig. 10. Fig. 11. Fig. 12. Fig. 13 



Fig. 14. 



Fig. 15. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



125 



EIGHT-ANGLED TRIANGLES. 

(See Figs. i6 — 59J. 

As from the whole cube, the dhided cube 
was produced, so by division the triangle 
springs from the square. By dividing it di- 
agouallj' in halves, we produce the rectangu- 
lar triangle with two equal sides. 

Although the form of the triangle was pre- 
sented to the child in connection with the Fifth 
Gift, it here appears more independently, and 
it is not only on that account necessary to ac- 
quaint the child with the qualities and being 
of the new addition to his occupation material, 
but still more so because the forms of the tri- 
angles with which as a natural sequence he 
will have to do hereafter, wU be entirely un- 
known to the pupil. The child places two tri- 
angles, joined to form a square upon the table. 

What kind of a line divides your four- 
cornered tablet? An oblique or slanting line. 
In what direction does the line cut your square 
in two ? From the right upper corner to the left 
lower corner. Such a line we call a diagonal. 

Separate the two parts of the square, and 
look at each one separately. What do you 
call each of these parts ? What did you call 
the whole ? A square. How many corners or 
angles had the square? Four. How many 
corners or angles has the half of the square 
you are looking at? Three. This half, there- 
fore, is called a triangle, because, as I have 
explained to you before, it has three angles. 
How nianj' sides has your triangle ? etc. 

Looking at the sides more attentively, what 
do you observe ? One side is long, the other 
two are shorter, and like each other. These 
latter are as large as the sides of the square, 
all sides of which were alike. 

Now tell me what kind of angle it is, that 
is formed by these two equal sides? It is a 
right angle. Why? and what will you call the 
other two angles ? How do the sides run which 
form these two angles ? They run in such a 
way as to form a very shai'p point, and these 
angles are, therefore called acute angles, which 
means sharp-pointed angles. Your triangle 
has then, how many ditt'erent kinds of angles? 
Two ; one right angle, and two acute angles. 

It is not necessary to mention that the above 
is not to be taught in one lesson. It should 
be presented in various conversations, lest the 
acquired knowledge might not be retained bj' 
even the brightest child. The attention of the 



pupil may also be led, in subsequent conver- 
sations to the fact that the largest side is op- 
posite the largest angle, and that the two 
angles are alike, etc. SufHcient opportunity 
for these and additional remarks will offer 
itself during the representations of forms of 
life, of knowledge, and of beauty, for which 
the child will employ his tablets, according to 
his own free will, and which are not neces- 
sarily to be separated, neither here nor in any 
other part of these occupations, although it is 
well to observe a certain order at any time. 

Whenever it can be done, elementary knowl- 
edge may well be imparted, together with the 
representations of forms of life, and forms of 
beauty. 

In order to invent, the child must have ob- 
served the vaiious positions which a triangle 
may occupy. It will find these acting accord- 
ing to the laws of opposites, already famUiar 
to the child. 

The riyht angle, placed to the right front, 
(Fig. 17) will bring it into the opposite posi- 
tion to the left hiick, (Fig. 18) then into the 
mediative positions, to the left front, (Fig. 19) 
and to the right hack, (Fig. 20). By turning, 
the right angle comes back of the long side, 
(Fig. 21) and in the opposite position it comes 
to the//-o)(f of theHypothenuse, (Fig. 22) then 
to the"j-/^/(f, (Fig. 23) and finally to the left oi 
it. (Fig. 24). 

The various positions of two triangles are 
easily found b}- moving one of them around 
the other. Figs. 26-31 are produced from Fig. 
25, by mo\-ing the back triangle, in six steps, 
around the other triangle, always keeping it in 
its original position. 

In Figs. 32-37, the changes are produced, 
alternating regularly between a turn and a 
move of the back triangle. In Figs. 38-47, 
simply turning takes place. 

After the child has become acquainted with 
the first elements from which its formations 
develop, it receives for a beginning four of 
the triangled tablets. It then places the right 
angles together, and thereby forms a stand- 
ing full square. (Fig. 48). 

By placing the tablets in an opposite posi- 
tion turning the right angles from within to 
without, it produces a lying square with the 
hollow in the middle, (Fig. 49). This hollow 
space has the same shape and dimensions as 
Fig. 48. The child will fancy Fig. 48 into the 



126 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



place of this hollow space, and will thereby 
transfer the idea of a full square upon an 
empty or hollow one, and will consequently 
make the first step from the perception of the 
concrete to its idea, the abstraction. 

The child will now easily find mediative 
forms between these two opposites. It places 
two right angles within and two without, (Figs. 
58 and 59) two front aud two back (Fig. 50) 
two to the right, aud two to the left (Fig. 51). 

So far, two tablets always remained con- 
nected with one another. By separating them 
■we produce the new mediative forms, Figs. 52, 
63, 54 and 55, in which again two and two are 
opposites. But instead of the right, the acute 
angle may meet in a point also, and thus Figs. 
56 aud 57 are produced, which are called ro- 
tation forms, because the isolated position of 
the right angle suggests, as it were, an incli- 
nation to fall, or turu, or rotate. 

The mediation between these two opposite 
figures is given in Figs. 50 aud 51 — between 



them and Figs. 49 aud 50 in Figs. 58 aud 59 ; 
and it should be remarked in this conuectiou, 
that these opposites are conditioned by the 
position of the right angle in all these eases. 
All these exercises accustom the pupil to a 
methodic handling of all his material. They 
develop a correct use of his eye, because regu- 
lar figures will only be produced when his tab- 
lets are placed correctly aud exactly in their 
places shown by the network on the table. 
The precaution which must be exercised by 
the child not to disturb the easily movable 
tablets, aud the care euiployed to keep each 
in its place, are of the greatest importance for 
future necessary dexterity of hand. In a still 
greater degree than by these simple elemen- 
tary forms just described, this will be the case, 
when the pupi' comes into possession of a larger 
number of tablets — up to sixty-four — for the 
formation of more complicated figures, ac- 
cording to the free exercise of his fantasy. 



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Figures 10, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 



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Figures 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 



oo. 



37. 





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Figures 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 4C, 47 




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Figures 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



127 



FORMS OF LIFE. 

(See Figs. 6o— So.) 

All hints giveu in comiectiou with the buikl- 
iug blocks, are also to be followed here, with 
thi.s difference onlj-, that we now produce ima- 
ages of objects, whereas, heretofore we united 
the objects themselves. 

With four tablets the child forms Fig. 
GO, a flower pot. Fig. 61, a little garden- 
house. Fig. 62, a pigeon-house. 

With eight tablets Fig. 63, a cottage. Fig. 
64, acauoe or boat. Fig. 65, a covered goblet. 
Fig. 66, a lighthouse. Fig. 67, a cloclc. 

With sixteen tablets Fig. 68, a bridge with 
twospans. Fig. 6 'J, large gate. Fig. 70,achurch. 
Fig. 71, a gate with belfry. Fig. 72, a fruit 
basket. 

With thirty-two tablets Fig. 73, a peasant's 
house. Fig. 74, aforge with high chimney. Fig. 
75, a coffee-mill. Fig. 76, a coffee-pot without 
handle. 

With sixty-four tablets Fig. 77, a two-story 
house. Fig. 78, entrance to a railroad depot. 
Fig. 7'.), a steamboat. 

In Fig. 80, we see the result of combined 
activity of many children. Although to some 
grown persons it may appear as if the images 
produced do not bear much resemblance to 
what they are intended to represent, it should 
be remembered that in most cases, the chil- 
dren themselves have given the names to 
the representations. Instructive conversation 
should also preveut this dratrlng v:itli planes, 
as it were, from being a mere mechanical pas- 
time ; the entertaiuiug, living word must in- 



fuse soul into the activity of the hand and its 
creations. Each representation, then, will 
speak to the child and each object in the 
world of nature ami art will have a story to 
tell to the child in a language for which he 
will be well prepared. 

We need not indicate how these conversa- 
tions should be carried on, or what thej' should 
contain. Who would not think in connection 
witli the pigeon-house, of the beautiful white 
birds themselves, and the nest they build ; the 
white eggs they lay, the tender young pigeous 
coming from them, and the care with which 
the old ones treat the youug cues, until they 
are able to take care of themselves ? An ap- 
plication of these relations to those between 
parents and children, and, perhaps those be- 
tween God aud man, who, as His children en- 
joy His kindness and love every moment of 
their lives, niaj'be made, according to circum- 
stances — all depending on the development of 
the children. However, care should always be 
taken not to present to them, what might be 
called abstract moi'als which the young mind 
is unable to grasp, and which, if thus forced 
upon it cannot fail to be injurious to moral de- 
velopment. The aim of all education should 
be love of the good, beautiful, noble, and sub- 
lime ; but nothing is more apt to kill this very 
love, ere it is born, than the monotony of dry, 
dull preaching of morals to young children. 
Words not so much as deeds — actual experi- 
ences in the life of the child, are its most natu- 
ral teachers in this important branch of edu- 
cation. 




Pig.60. Fio-. 61. Fig. 62. Fig. 63. Fig. 64. Fig. 65. Fig. 66. Fig. 67. 




Fig. 68. 



Fig. 69. Fig. 70. 



Fig. 71. Fig. 72. 



128 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 













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Fig. 80. 



FORMS OF KNOWLEDGE. 

(See Figs. 81—94). 

These tablets are especially qualified to 
bring to the observation of the child different 
sizes of the same forms and equal sizes in dif- 
ferent forms. 

By joining two, four and eight tablets, we 
become acciitainted with the regular figures 
which may be formed with them, as shown in 
Figs. 81-86. These with the exception of Fig. 
81 are made from the four triangles arranged 
in different forms. 

Figs. 87, 88 and 89 show triangles of which 
each is double the size of the previous one. 
In the squares shown in Figs. 90 and 91, the 
latter is double the size of the former. Figs. 



92-94 show two triangles of tlie same size laid 
to produce different forms. 

That the contemplation of these figures and 
the occupation with them, must tend to facili- 
tate the understanding of geometrical axioms in 
the future, who can doubt? And who can gain- 
say that mathematical instruction, by means of 
Frcebel's methods must needs be facilitated, 
and better results obtained? That such in- 
struction will he rendered more fruitful for 
practical life, is a fact which will be obvious to 
all, who simply glance at our flgui'es, even with- 
out a thorough explanation. They contain 
demonstratively the larger number of the axi- 
oms in elementary geometry, which relate to 
the conditions of the plane in regular figures. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



129 



For the present purpose, it is sufficient if 
the child learns to distinguish the various kinds 
of angles, if he knows that the right angles are 
aU equally large, the acute angles smaller, and 
the obtuse angles larger than a right angle, 
which the child will easily understand by put- 
ting one upon another. A deeper insight in 
the matter must be resei-ved for the primary 
department of instnictiou. 



coustantlj' touch one another. The opposite 
— long side touching short — we have in Fig. 
117, and by traveling from right to left of half 
the triangles, Figs. 117-122 are obtained. \\'<i 
would have secured a much larger number of 
forms, if we had not interrupted progress by 
turning the triangles produced by Fig. 121. 

In the fundamental forms Figs. 105 and 
117, the sides touched one another. Fig. 123 





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Fig. 81. Fig. 82. Fig. 83. 



Fig. 84. Fig. '"'O. 



Fig. 86. 



Fig. 87. 





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Fig. 88. Fig. 89. Fig. 90. Fig. 

FORMS OF BEAUTY. 

(See Figs. 95 — 151). 

Owing to the multiplicity of elementary forms 
to be made with the triangles, the mmiber of 
Forms of Beauty is very large, and the great di- 
versity' and beauty of the forms produced by the 
triangle, square, rhomb, hexagon and octagon, 
lend a lasting charm to the child's occupation. 
His inventive power and desire, led by law, 
will find constant satisfaction, and to give sat- 
isfaction in the fullest measure should be a pro- 
minent feature of all systems of education. 

FORMS BriLT WITH EIGHT TABLETS. 

In working with this number we can illus- 
trate the most varied principles. Figs. 9.5-104 
are obtained by doubling the fonns produced 
by four tablets,' (Figs. 48-59). Figs. 105-116 
start from the fundamental form Fig. 105, 
making one-half of the tablets move from left 
to right, the length of one side, with each 
move. New figures would be produced if we 
moved from right to left in a similar manner. 
In these figures, sides always touch sides, and 
corners touch corners — consequently, parts of 
the same kind. 

The transition or mediation between these 
two opposites, the touching of corners and 
sides, would be produced by shortening the 
movement of the ti'aveling triangle one-half, 
permitting it to proceed one-half side only. 

But let us return to the fundamental form 
Fig. 105. In it, either long sides or short sides 



91. Fig. 92. Fig. 93. Fig. 94. 

shows that they may touch at the corners only. 
In this figure, the right angles are without ; in 
Figs. 124 and 125, they are within. Fig. 125 
is the mediation between Figs. 105 and 124, 
for in Fig. 105 four tablets touch with their 
sides and in Fig. 124 four T\-ith the corners. 
Fig. 126 is the opposite of Fig. 125, full cen- 
ter, (empty center), and mediation between 
Figs. 123 and 124 — (four righc angles with- 
out, as in Fig. 123 and four within, as in Fig. 
124). It is akeady seen, from these indica- 
tions, what a treasure of forms enfolds itself 
here. 

FORMS BUILT WITH SIXTEEN" TABLETS. 

It would be impossible to exhaust them. 
Least of all, should it be the task of this work 
to do this, when it is only intended to show 
how the productive self-occupation of the pu- 
pil can fittingly be assisted. We believe, be- 
sides, that we have given a sufficient number 
of ways on which fantasy may travel, perfectly 
sure of finding constantly new, beautiful, eye 
and taste developing formations. We, there- 
fore, add Figs. 127-141 which are produced 
by quadrupling some of the elementary forms 
given in Figs. 48-59, and also Figs. 142-144 
which indicate how new series of fonns of 
beautj' maj' be developed from each of these 
forms. It must be e^ident, even to the casual 
observer, how here also the law of opposites, 
and their junction was obsei-ved. Opposites 
are Fists. 127 and 128; mediation Figs. 129 



130 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



and 130 ; opposites, Figs. 131 and 132 ; medi- 
ation Figs. 133, island 135 ; opposites, Figs. 
136 and 137; mediation Fig. 138, etc. 

FORMS BUILT WITH THIRTY-TWO TABLETS. 

As heretofore, we proceed here, also, in the 
same manner, by multiplying the given ele- 
ments, or by means of further development, 
according to the law of opposites. As an ex- 
ample, we give Figs. 14.5-148, the members 
of which ai'B produced by a foiu'-fold jimctiou 
of the elements of Figs. 103 and 104. Figs. 
145 and 146 are opposites ; Figs. 147 and 148 
are mediative forms. 

FORMS BUILT WITH SIXTY-FOUR TABLETS.* 

Here, also, the combined activity of many 
children will result in forms most interesting. 
There is another feature of this combined ac- 
tivity not to be forgotten. The children are busy 
obeying the same law ; the same aim unites 
them — one helps the other. Thus the condi- 



tions of human society — family, community, 
states, etc., — are ahead}' here shown in their 
effects. A system of education which, so to 
speak, by mere play, leads the child to ap- 
preciate those requisites, by compliance with 
which it can successfully occupj' its position 
as man in the future, certainly deserves the 
epithet of a natural and rational one. 

Figs. 149, 150 and 151 are enlarged pro- 
ductions from Figs. 131 and 132. They are 
planned in such a way, as to admit of being 
continued in all directions, and thus serve to 
carry out the repi'eseutation of a very large 
design. 

After having acted so far, according to in- 
dications made here, it is now advisable to 
start from the fundamental forms presented 
in the Fifth Gift and to use them, with the 
necessary modifications, in farther occupying 
the pupils with the tablets. 



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Fig. 95. Fig. 96. Fig. 97. Fig. 98. Fig. 99. Fig. 100. Fig. 101. Fig. 102. 











































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Fig. 109. Fig. 110. Fig. 111. Fig. 112. Fig. 113. Fig. 114. 













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Fig. 115. 



Fig. 116. 



Fig. 117. Fig. 118. Fig. 119. Fig. 120. 



*No one child could handle this number without producing nervous fatigue. The exercises are preferable 
for primary work leading to design. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



131 











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Fig. 124. Fig. 125. Fig. 126. 











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Fig. 136. Fig. 137. Fig. 138. 





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Fig. 140. Fig. 141. Fig. 142. Fig. 143. Fig. 144. 




Fig. 145. 



Fi2. 146. 



Fig. 147. 



Fig. 148. 



132 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 





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Fig. 149. Fig. 

THE EQUILATEKAL TRIANGLE. 

(See Figs. 152 — 227J. 

So far the right angle has pretlomiuated iu 
the occupations with the tablets, and the acute 
angle only appeared iu subordinate relations. 
Now it is the latter alone -which governs the 
actions of the child iu producing forms and 
figures. 

The child will naturally compare the equila- 
teral triangle, which he uow receives with the 
isosceles, right-angled tablet already known to 
him. Both have three sides, both three angles, 
but on close observation not only their simi- 
larities, but also their dissimilarities will be- 
come apparent. The three angles of the new 
triangle are all smaller than a right angle, are 
acute angles and the three sides are just alike, 
hence the name — equilateral — meaning '■'■eqital 
sided" triangle. 

Joining two of these equilateral tablets the 
child will discover that it cannot form a tri- 
angle, square or any of the regular figures pre- 
viously produced. To undertake to produce 
forms of life with these tablets would prove 
very unsatisfactory. 

FORMS OF KNOWLEDGE. 

These are of particular interest because they 
present entirely new formations. 

It has been mentioned before, that the previ- 
ously introduced regular mathematical figures 
do not appear here as a whole. However, a 
triangle can be rejH-eseuted by four or nine 
tablets, a rhomboid l;>y four, six or eight tab- 
lets, a trapezium by three, and manifold in- 
structive remarks can be made and experi- 
ences gathered in the construction of these 
figures. But above all, it is the rhombus and 
hexagon, with which the pupil is to be made 



150. 



Fig. 151. 



acquainted here. The child unites two tri- 
angles by joining side to side, and thus pro- 
duces a rhombus. 

Tlie child compares the sides — are they 
alike ? What is their direction ? Are they paral- 
lel ? Two and two have the same direction, 
aud are therefore parallel. 

The child now examines the angles and finds 
that two and two are of eijual size. They are 
not right angles. Triangles, smaller than right 
angles, he knows, are called acute angles, and 
he hears uow that the larger ones are called 
obtuse angles. The teacher may remark that 
the latter are twice the size of the former ones. 
By these remarks the pupil will gradually re- 
ceive a correct idea of the rhombus and of the 
qualities by which it is distinguished from 
the quadrangle, right angle, trapezium and 
rhomboid. 

In the same manner, the hexagon gives oc- 
casion for interesting and instructive questions 
and answers. How many sides has it? How 
many are parallel ? How many angles does it 
contain? What kind of angles are they? How 
lai'ge are they as compared with the angles of 
the equal sided triangle? Twice as large. 

Tlie power of observation and the reason- 
ing faculties are constantly developed by such 
conversation, and the results of such exercises 
are of more importance than all the knowledge 
that may be acquired in the meantime. 

The greater part of this occupation, how- 
ever, is not within the Kindergarten proper, 
but belongs to the realm of the Primary school 
department. If they are introduced in the 
former they are intended only to swell the 
sum of general experience iu regard to the 
qualities of things, whereas iu the latter, they 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



133 



serve as a foundation of real knowledge in 
the department of mathematics. 

THE FORMS OF BEAUTY. 
The child first receives three tablets and ^ill 
find the various positions of the same toward 
one another according to the law of opposites 
and their combination. 



A^s. 



Fig.152. Fig. 153. Fig. 154. Fig.155. Fig.156. 



Fig. 171. Fig. 172. 



Fig. 173. 



Fig. 174. 



Fig. 175. 



Fig. 176. 



Fig 157. Fig. 158. Fig.159. Fig. 160. 

SIX TABLETS. 

The child will unite his tablets around one 
common center (Fig. 161), form the opposite 
(Fig. 162), and then arrive at the forms of 
mediation Figs. 163, 164, 165 and 166, or he 
unites thi'ee elementary forms each composed 
of two tablets as done in Fig. 167 taid forms 
the op|)osite Fig. 168 and the mediations Figs. 
16!) and Fig. 170 or he starts from Fig. 161, 
turning first one, then two, then three tablets, 
outwardly. By turning one tablet Figs. 172 
and 173, by turning two tablets Figs. 174, 175, 
176, 177, 178, 179, and 180 are produced from 
Fig. 171. This may be continued with three, 
four and five tablets. All forms thus received 
give us elementary forms which may be em- 
ployed as soon as a larger number of tablets 
are to be used. 



Fig. 177. Fig. 178. Fig. 179. Fig. 180. 

NINE TABLETS. 

As with the right-angled triangle, small 
groups of tablets were combined to form 
larger figures, so we also do here. The ele- 
mentary forms. Figs. 152-160 give us in three- 
fold combination the series as shown in Figs. 
181-191 which in course of the occupation 
may be multiplied at will. 




Fig. 161. 



Fig. 164. 



Fig. 165. 



Fig. 166. 





Fig. 181. Fig. 182. Fig. 183. Fig. 184. 




Fig. 185. Fig. 186. Fig. 187. Fig. 188. 





Fig. 180. 



Fig. 190. 



Fig. 191. 



Fig. 167. Fig. 168. Fig. 169. Fig. 170. 



TWELVE TABLETS. 

Half of the tablets are of light wood and 
half dark. By this difference in color, opposites 
are rendered more conspicuous, and these 
twelve tablets thus aiford a splendid opportu- 
nity for illustrating more forcibly the law of 
opposites and their combination. Figs. 192- 
227, show how, by combination of opposites 
in the forms a and b, every time the star c is 



134 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



produced. Eutirely uew series of fox-ms may 
be produced by employing a larger number of 
tablets, eighteen, twenty-four or thirty-six. 
We are, however, obliged to leave these repre- 
sentations to the combined inventive powers of 
teacher and pupil. 




Fig. 213. 



Fig. 214. 




Fig. 215. 




Fig. 192. Fig. 193. 



■■k 



Fig. 194. 



Fig. 216. 



Fig. 217. 




Fig. 218. 




Fig. 195. 



Fig. 196. 




Fig. 198. Fig. 199. Fig. 200. 




Fig. 219. 



Fig. 220. 




Fig. 222. 



Fig. 223. 




Fio-. 221. 




Fig.224. 



Fig. 201. 



Fig. 202. 




Fig. 204. Fig. 205. 





Fig. 207. Fig. 208. 






Fig. 203. 




Fig. 209. 






Fi"-. 225. 



Fig 226. 




Fig. 227. 



THE OBTUSE- ANGLED TRIANGLE 
WITH TWO SIDES ALIKE. 

(See Figs. 22S— 250). 

The child receives a box with sixty-four 
obtuse-angled tablets. He examines one of 
them and compares it with the right-angled 
triangle, with two sides alike. It has two sides 
alike, has also two acute augles, but the third 
angle is larger than the right angle ; it is an 
obtuse-angle, and the tablet is, therefore, an 
obtuse-angled triangle with two sides alike. 

The pupil then unites two and two tablets by 
laj'ing them so that edges join edges, corners 
touch corners and edges joiu corners as shown 
in Figs. 228-236. 



Fig. 210. Fig. 211. 



Fig. 212 



Fig. 228. 



Fig. 229. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



135 



Fig. 230. 



Fia;. 232. 



Fig. 234. 



Fis;. 231. 



Fig. 233. 
Fig. 235 




Fig. 236. 

The nest preliminary exercise, is the com- 
bination by fours, of the elementary forms thus 
produced. Peculiarly beautiful, mosaic-like 
forms of beauty result from this process, 
such as Figs. 237-243, which are produced by 
the combination of two opposites or by medi- 
ative forms. Figs. 244-250 are samples of 
forms of life. 





Fig. 237. 



Fig. 238. 





Fig. 240. 



Fig. 241. 



P ... 




Fig. 242. 



Fig. 243. 



The forms of knowledge which may Tic pro- 
duced, afford opportunity to repeat what has 
been taught and learned previoush' about pro- 
portion of form and size. In the Primary 
School the geometrical proportions are further 
introduced, by which means the knowledge of 
the pupils, in regard to angles, as to the po- 
sition they occupy in the triangle, can be suc- 
cessfully developed by practical observation, 
without the necessity of ever dealing in mere 
abstractions. 




Fig. 239. 



Fig. 247. 



Fig. 248. 



136 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 




Fig. 249. 



A comparison v.-\th tlie rigbt-augled triangle 
with two equal sides will facilitate the matter 
greatly. 

Ou the whole, however, the process of de- 
yelopuieut may be pursued, as repeatedly in- 
dica.ted ou previous occasions. 




Fig. 250. 

THE RIGHT-ANGLED TRIANGLE WITH 
NO EQUAL SIDES. 

(See Figs. 251— 2S6). 

The little box coutaiuiog fifty-six tablets 
of the above description, each of which are 
in form like one-half of the obtuse-angled tri- 
angle, enables the child to represent a goodly 
number of forms of life, as shown iu Figs. 
251-264. 



r/j 




£.iL 



Fig. 251. 

In producing them sufficient opportunities 
will present themselves to let the child find out 
the qualities of the new occupation material. 









Fig, 253. 






|(f !?" k T#| 




H!^ 



Fig. 254. 




Fig. 255. 




Fig. 252. 



Fig. 256. 




Fig. 258. 




Fig. 259. 






Fig. 260. 



m. 











s....Lmii 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 
Fig. 257. 



l?u 





tri 




T"='*.- 






ca 



Fig. 263. 







Fig. 261. 



Fig. 264. 

The variety of the forms of beauty to be laid 
with these tablets, is especially founded outheif 
combination iu twos. Figs. 265-270 show the 
forms produced by joining equal sides. 



138 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



Fio-. 265. Fig. 266. 



Fis;. 267. 



Fis. 268. 



Fig. 269. 



Fig. 270. 



In similar manner, the cliild has to find out 
the forms which will be the result of joining 
unlike edges, like corners, unlike corners, and 
finally corners and edges. 

By a fourfold combination of such elementary 
forms the child receives the material (Figs. 
271-282), to produce a large number of forms 
of beauty similar to those given under Figs. 
283-286. 



For the purpose, also, of presenting to the 
child's observation, in a new shape, propor- 
tions of form and size, in the production of 
forms of knowledge, these tablets are very 
serviceable. 

Like the previous tablets, these also, and a 
following set of similar tablets, are used in 
the Primary Department for enlivening the 
instruction in Geometry. It is believed that 
nothing has ever been invented to so facilitate, 
and render interestiug to teacher and pupil, 
the instruction in this so important branch of 
education as the tablets forming the Seventh 
Gift of Froebel's Occupation Material, the use 
of which is commenced with the children when 
they have entered the second year of their Kin- 
dergarten discipline. 




Fig. 272 



Fig. 276. 



Fig. 279. 



Fig. 273. 



Fig. 277. 





Fig. 278. 





Fig. 280. 



Fig. 281. 



Fig. 282. 



^ A ^ 

/ 1 ' ' I -\ 

fe5s-"f -- ' — +--a 




Fig. 283. 



Fig. 284. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



139 




1^ 



■r-\<p 



<j^— ftf 



^^'■- 








Fig. 285. 



Fig. 286. 



EDITOR'S NOTES. 



Aa the tablets of the seventh gift represent 
surfaces instead of solids they at once become 
more ideal and serve as an iiitrodiu'tion* to the 
elements of drawing, or to the representation of 
solids by plane surfaces. These tablets, in fact, 
contain in concrete form the principles of plain 
geometry, and illustrate many of the problems 
in elementary industrial drawing. The natural 
foundation for a mathematical and scientific 
education which the kindergarten laj's is an 
important element to aid in the production of 
more expert and accurate woiknien in any 
manual occupation, and will tend to cultivate a 
more accurate and practical conception of every- 
day experiences. The manual training exhibit 
sent from Russia to Philadelphia in 1876 be- 
gan the evolution of a practical system of 
manual training in this country, and the cor- 
responding exiiibition of the kindergarten work 
and material, with the first practical kindergar- 
ten guide in the P>nglish language, was equally 
a forerunner of the kindergarten in America, 
which to-day stands well in advance of the work 
in all other parts of the world, while its possi- 
bilities can as yet be only imagined. Twenty 
years ago America was at a great industrial dis- 
advantage in comparison with older nations, 
because her artisans lacked the scientific and 
art education which was afforded the work- 
men of other countries. This defect is rapidly 

* No sucli introduction i^ needed. Children draw 
is no more nervous woriv in the kindergarten than favin: 



being overcome in the establishment of indus- 
trial schools, through the liberal donations of 
some of our capitalists and the general progress 
of our public school officials along the same 
lines. Inlaying the foundation of such educa- 
tion in the kindergarten the seventh gift has 
inmiense capabilities, but much of its force and 
value has been lost from lack of logical se- 
quence in the derivation of the forms of the 
tablet, and the order of their use. In the origi- 
nal seventh gift tablets as imported from Ger- 
many there were five forms, namely, the square, 
half square, equilater.al triangle, obtuse-angled 
triangle and scalene triangle made by di%'iding 
diagonally an oblong of two squares. In this 
gift the absence of the circle and half circle 
seems to have been unfortunate, because the 
ball is the first solid, and correspondingly the 
circle should be the first surface form, and the 
general introduction of the circle and half circle 
by the leading kindergartners of our day 
seems to particularly indorse this criticism. 

Following the circle based on the sphere, 
should come the square which is one of the six 
equal faces of the cube, and the half square 
formed by a diagonal di%nsion of the square 
should follow. Next, we may have the equi- 
lateral triangle which is the type of three-sided 
plane figures, as the square is the type of four- 
sided figures. If the equilateral triangle is 

long before tliey can profitably handle tablets. There 
' tablets unless enlargced ones are used. 



140 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



divided by a line from one corner to the cen- 
ter of tlje opposite side, this line will be per- 
pendicular to that side and one of these halves 
of the equilateral will be a scalene triangle 
with two acute angles and one right angle. If 
these two triangles formed by dividing the 
equilateral triangle are placed base to base, we 
have an obtuse-angled triangle. These five 
forms are the same as in the original German 
gift, except the scalene triangle, and it is in the 
form and order of introduction of this tablet, 
that the objection to the old seventh gift is 
found. If the scalene triangle is one-half of 
the equilateral it becomes a typical and valua- 
ble form, instead of a meaningless and useless 
one when it is a half of an oblong of two 
squares. In this new form the angles are 
ninety degrees, sixty degrees and thirty de- 
gi'ees, all of which are typical or in a sense 
standard angles, but if instead of this triangle 
we have the half of the oblong of two squares, 
the two acute angles become fractional and have 



i 



A 




no value as standards and no logical relation 
to the other tablets. Two of them will not 
make an equilateral triangle, neither will they 
make the obtuse-angled triangle with which 
they must be associated, and no number of 
tbem will exactly fill a circle. In fact, the tri- 
angle is a constant source of error and false 
education to the eye, and in its use much of the 
practical value of this gift is sacrificed. 

In the accompanying diagrams. A, B, C, D, 
E, the tablets of the seventh gift are shown in 
their proper order. The square A educates 
the eye to correctly estimate a right angle, one 
of the essential qualifications of a skilled 
artizan. The bisection of the square gives the 
forty-five degrees triangle B, thus training the 
eye to measm-e that universal angle, the miter, 
one-half of a right angle. These two angles are 
so common that the draftsman or the designer 
constantly uses a large "tablet B" in connec- 



tion with the T square in his work. The angle 
of forty-five degrees is one eighth of the circle 
and this triangle is used in a very simple way 
for drawing the octagon, thus : — 

Draw a circle and with the T square draw a 
tangent to the top and bottom of the circle. 
With the triangle sliding on the blade of theT 



D 



Fig. 287. 

square draw the two tangents at opposite sides, 
Fig. 287. Then place the hypothenuse of the 
triangle on the T square and draw four diag- 
onals tangent to the circle to complete the oc- 
tagon, as in Fig. 288. This is but one of the 
many ways in which the forty-five degrees tri- 
angle is used by the draftsman. The equila- 
teral triangle C has tliree angles of sixty de- 



n 




u 



Fig. 288. 



grees each, six of which form a complete circle. 
The di%'ided equilateral or right-angled scalene 
triangle D has one angle of ninety degrees, 
one of sixty degrees and one of thirty degrees, 
and this tablet is another tool indispensable to 
the draftsman, and a constant companion of 
the forty-five degrees triangle and the T square. 
It is of the same service in drawing the hexa- 
gon that the forty-five degrees triangle is in 



i 



J Fig. 289. 

forming the octagon, as may be seen in Fig. 
289, and Fig. 290, which following Figs. 287 
and 288, will usually give the idea without 
further explanation. In case the matter is not 
perfectly clear these operations can be per- 
formed with the T square and triangles of the 
drawing kit of the elementary school. These 
two triangles represent all the angles which may 
be termed standards, namely, ninety degrees, 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



141 



fortj'-five degrees, sixty degrees and thirty de- (Figs. 299-304), also border patterns, (Fig. 
grees, and a child iu the kindergarten sliould be- 305). Sequeuees may be derived liy working 
come as familiar with them as with the size of by opposites, as shown in Figs. 30()-310. 
the squares on the table. The obtuse-angled 
triangle E, as made in the gifts, is in form like 
two of D, joined at the short sides, but for con- 
venience the size is reduced one-half. 



r- 


i^^ 




• 




"1 




Fig. 290. 





The only argument for the use of the scalene 
triangle derived from the oblong of two squares, 
seems to be based on the fact that such a tri- 
angle is conveniently made on the netted draw- 
ing, but this certainly is not of sufficient im- 
portance to warrant the introduction of a math- 
ematical monstrosity such as this triangle must 
be considered. 

Among the seventh gift tablets for sale and 
in use in the kindergartens both forms of the 
scalene triangles may be found. One is the 
half of an oblong of two squares and the other 
the half of a equilateral triangle. Some kin- 
dergartners are using either the one or the other 
with well settled eon-sictions as to its superior 
value, while others have given little or no 
thought to the subject. The difference is so 
radical between the two geometrical forms that 
it should become a question of considerable im- 
portance in the mind of an intelligent kinder- 
gartner, which form she selects in her gifts. 
Ha\-ing decided, she ought to be sure that she 
gets what she wants when ordering material. 
The argum.ent in favor of the half equilat- 
eral has been'briefly expressed above, because 
the experience of the editor in practical geome- 
try and industrial drawing has convinced him 
of the truth of this position, but every kinder- 
partner is entitled to the opposite opinion af- 
ter ha\-ing given careful thought to the subject. 

In presenting this gift as the circle is the 
first plane to be given, a clay sphere may be 
modeled and by cutting through the center, the 
face of the hemisphere will show the circle thus 
proving to the children that it is derived from 
the ball. 

Call attention to other circular ol)jects and 
give simple lessons in direction and position ; 
follow this by laj'ing forms of symmeti-y with 
the circle, (Figs. 291-298), and half circle, 





Fig. 292. 



Fig. 293. 




Fig. 294. 





Fig. 295. 



Fig. 296. 





Fig. 297. 

In considering the square let a piece of ap- 
ple or bread be cut just the size and shape of 
the third gift, and then a slice cut from it to 
show how the square tablet is a representative 
of the surface of the cube. Most children 
would understand it, perhaps, without this, 
but something real is better and the fact that 



/=: 



142 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



taking the slice from the cube has left only a in the tablets of this gift, it often gives him 
part of a eulie becomes more of a reality to great pleasure to reproduce that design in per- 
manent form by pasting colored papers cut 





Fig. 299. 



Fig. 300. 




Fig, 301. 



LmJ 



Fig. 302. 





Fig. 303. 



Fig. 304. 




Fig. 305. 




^p9 



:) 



; 



Fig. 306. 



Fig. 307. 




Fig. 308. 
the children after they have watched the pro- 
cess than if they had only tried to think it out. 
Wlien a cliild has laid a satisfactory design 





Fig. 309. 

in shapes like the tablets on to a piece of card 
or heavy paper, which may be can ied home as 
a souvenir. In this occupation which has been 
called "Parquetry," the element of color may 
be introduced while l)oth the form instruction 
and manual training involved are invalualile. 
In some styles of the seventh gift the tablets 
are painted in a variety of colors, and while 
on first thought this feature may be very at- 
tractive, experience has seemed to demonstrate 
to the satisfaction of kiudergartners in this 
countrj', that the tablets in light and dark 
woods, expressing tones rather than color are 
more valuable, educationally, than the colored 
tablets. Before the introduction of Parquetry 
papers the colored tal:)lets were quite popular, 
but with the greatly improved expression o? 
color sequences found in the modern educa- 
tional colored paper, tliis feature seems open to 
many objections. No painted surfaces sub- 
ject to constant use by the children and ex- 
posure to the light, can permanently retain 
their colors so as to have much educational 
value in color perception, and therefore the 
occupations are far better adapted to the 
teaching of color than the gifts. Also the 
consideration of the effects of light and shade 
in the designs as made with the tablets is as 
much as the child's mind is able to grasp at 
first, while increased interest is secured later 
by the addition of colors in the reproduction 
of the designs, by pasting papers selected from 
the great variety of colors in the modern edu- 
cational colored papers. Par()uetry not only 
delights the children but teaches accuracy of 
eye and hand in placing the small bits of paper, 
neatness in the gumming, and cultivates taste 
in the selection and combination of colors. It is 
distinctly an American occupation which has 
been generally accepted as a valuable addition 
to the earlier occupations of the kindergarten^ 



THE EIGHTH GIFT. 

STICKS FOR LAYING OF FIGURES. 



As the tablets of the Seventh Gift are noth- 
ing but an embodiment of the pkmeh surround- 
ing or limiting the cvhe, and as these planes, 
limits of the cube, are nothing but the repre- 
sentations of the extension in length, hreadtli 
and height, already contained in the sphere and 
ball, so also the sticks are derived from the 
cube, forming as they do, and here bodily rep- 
resenting its edges. But they are also contained 
in the tablets, because the plane is thought of, 
as consisting of a continued or repeated line, 
and this may be illustrated by placing a suf- 
ficient number of one inch long sticks side be- 
side, and close together, until a square is 
formed. 

The sticks lead us another step farther, 
from the material, bodily, toward the i-ealm 
of abstractions. 

By means of the tablets, we were enabled 
to produce flat images of bodies ; the slats, 
which, as previously jnentioned, form a tran- 
sition from plane to line, gave, it is true, the 
outlines of forms, but these outlines still re- 
tained a certain degree of the plane about 
them ; in the sticks, however, we obtain the 
material to draw the outlines of objects, bj' 
bodily lines, as perfectly as it can possibly be 
done. 

The laj'ing of sticks is a favorite occupa- 
tion with all children. Their fantasy sees in 
them the most different objects, — stick, yard 
measure, caudle ; in short, they are to them 
representatives of everything straight. 

Our sticks are of the thickness of a line 
(o'le twelfth of an inch), and are cut in vari- 
ous lengths. The child, holding the stick in 
his hand, is asked: What do j'ou hold in your 
hand? How do you hold it ? Verticallj'. Can 



Fig. 1. 



Fig. 2. 



Fig. 



Lay your stick upon the table. How does 
it lie ? In what other direction can you place 
it? 

The child receives a second stick. How 
many sticks have you now ? Now try to form 
something. The child lays a standing cross, 
(Fig. 4). You certainly can lay mauj' other 
and more beautiful things ; but let us see what 
else we may produce of this cross, by mov- 
ing the horizontal stick, by half its length, 
(Figs. 4 to 14). 



Fig. 4. Fig. 6. Fig. 6. Fig. 7. 

— — ■ <= ■ 



Flo;. 8. 



Fig. 9. 



Fis. 10. 



Fio-. 11. 



Fig. 12. Fig. 13. Fig. 14. 
Starting from a lying cross, (Fig. 15) or 
from a pair of open tongs, (where two acute 
and two obtuse angles are formed bj' the cross- 
ing sticks), and proceeding similarly as with 
Figs. 4-14, we will produce all positions which 
two sticks can occupy', relative to one another, 
except the parallel, and this wiU give ample 
opportunity to refresh, and more deeply ini- 
press upon the pupil's mind, all that has been 
introduced so far, concerning vertical, hori- 
zontal and oblique lines, and of right, acute 
and obtuse angles, (Figs. 15-23). 



you hold it in any other way ? Yes ! I can hold 
it horizontally. Still in another w.iy ? Slant- 
ing fi'om left above, to right below, or from 
riglit above to left below. (Figs. 1-3). Fig. 15. Fig. 16 




Fig. 17. 



Fig. 18. 



144 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 





Fig. 11). Fig. 20. Fig. 21. Fig. 22. Fig. 23. 

AVith two sticks, we can also form little 
figures, which show some slight resemblance 
with things aroimd us. By them we enliven 
the power of recollection and imagination of 
the child, exercise his ability of comparison, 
increase his treasure of ideas, and develop in 
all these his pow'er of perception and concep- 
tion — the most indispensable requisites for 
disciplining the mind. 

Following are given representations of ob- 
jects made : — 

With two sticks. Fig. 24, A Playing Table. 
Fig. 25, Pick Axe. Fig. 26, An Angle Meas- 
'ure. (Carpenter's square). 



Tig. 32. .Fig. 33. 

With five sticks. Fig. 34, Signal Flag of R. 
R. Guard. Fig. 35, A Cottage. Fig. 3G, Saw. 
horse. Fig. 37, A Chair. 




rig.85. 




Fig. 30. 



Fio-. 



Fig. 24. Fig. 25. Fig. 26. 

Witli three sticks, Fig. 27, A Flail. Fig. 28, With six sticks. Fig. 38, A Flag. Fig. 39, 

A Boat. Fig. 40. A Reel. Fig. 41. A Small 
Tree. 



A Small Flag. Fig. 29, A Star. 




Fig. 27. Fig. 28. Fig. 29. 

With four sticks, Fig. 30, A Wooden Chair. 
Fig. 31, A Wash bench. Fig. 32, A Crib. 
Fig. 33, Flower-pot. 




'^^^^ 



Fig. 38. 



Fig. 39. 






Fig. 40. 



Fig. 41. 



Fig. 30. 



Fig. 31. 



With seven sticks, Fig. 42, A Dwelling 
House. Fig. 43, A Bridge with Three Spans. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



145 



Fig. 44, Tombstone and Cross. Fig. 45, Rail With nine sticks, Fig. 51, Dwelling-liouse. 
Fence. Fig. 52, Sailboat. Fig. 53, Balance. Fig. 54. 

Coffee-mill. Fig. 55, Students Lamp 




J ii U L 



Fig. 43. 




Fig. 51 



t=4=J 



Fig. 44. 



y 

Fig. 45. 



With eight sticks, Fig. 46, Church, with 
steeple. Fig. 47, Gas Lantern. Fig. 48, Corn- 
crib. Fig. 49, A Flower-pot. Fig. 50, A Piano 
forte. 





Fig. 53. 



Fig. 54. 



Fig. 46. 



Fig. 47. Fig. 48. 





Fig. 49. 



Fig. 50. 



Fig. 55. 

With ten sticks, Fig. 56, Graveyard Wall 
Fig. 57, A Hall. Fig. 58, A Flower-pot. Fig. 
59, A Bedstead. Fig. GO, A Flag. 



146 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 




Fig. 56. 



Fig. 57. 





Fig. 58. 



Fig. 59. 



Fig. 60. 



With eleven sticlcs, Fig. 61, A Kiteheu 
Lamp. Fig. 62, Cup aud Saucer. 




Fig. 61. 



Fig. 62. 



With twelve sticks. Fig. 63, A Church. Fig. 
64, Chair aud Table. Fig. 65, A Well with 
Sweep. 




Fig. 63. 




Fig. 64. 



Fig. 65. 



These exercises are to be continued with a 
larger number of sticks. The hints given above, 
will enable the teacher to conduct the laj-iug of 
sticks in a manner interesting, as well as use- 
ful, for her pupils. 

It is advisable to guide the activity of the 
child occasionally in another direction. The 
pupils may all be called upon to lay tables, which 
can lie produced from two to ten sticks, or 
houses which can be laid with eighteen sticks. 

Sticks are also employed for representing 
forms of beauty. The previous, or simulta- 
neous occupation with the building blocks, aud 
tablets, will assist the child in producing the 
same in great variety. Figs. 66-72 belong to 
this class of representations. 

Combination of the occupation material of 
several, or all children taking jiart in the ex- 
ercises, will lead to the production of larger 
forms of life, or beauty, which in the Primary 
Dei>artment, can even be extended to repre- 
senting whole landscapes, in which the mate- 
rial is augmented by the introduction of saw- 
dust to represent foliage, grass, land, moss, etc. 

By means of combination, the children often 
produce forms which afford them great pleas- 
ure, aud J'epay them for the careful persever- 
ance aud skill employed. They often express 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



147 




Fig. 66. 




Fig. 67. 





Fis;. 68. 




Fig. 69. 



Fig. 70. 




Fig. 71. 



Fiff. 72. 



14S 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



the ■wish that they might be able to show the 
inoductiou to father, ov mother, or sister, or 
friend. But this they caDoot do, as the sticks 
will separate when taken up. 

We should assist the little ones in carrying 
out their desire of giving pleasure to others, 
by showing to, or presenting them with the 
result of their own industry, in portable form. 
By wetting the ends of the sticks with muci- 
lage, or binding them together with needle and 
thread, or placing them on substantial paper, 
we can grant their desire, and make them hap- 
pj% and be sure of their thanks for our efforts. 

But we have another means of rendering 
these representations permanent, and it is by 
draiuing, which, on its own account, is to be 
practiced in the most elementary manner. We 
begin the drawing, as will hereafter be shown, 
as a special branch of occupation, as soon as 
the child has reached its third or fourth year. 

The method of laying sticks is in general the 
same as applied for drawing, the latter, how- 
ever, progresses less rapidly. It is advisable 
to combine sticks in regular figures, ti'iangies 
and squares, and to find out in a small num- 
ber of such figures all possible combinations 
according to the law of opposites. 

All these occupations depend on the larger or 
smaller number of sticks employed ; they there- 
fore afford means for increasing and strength- 
ening the knowledge of the child. The pupil, 
however, is nuieh more decidedlj' introduced 
into the elements of ciphering, when the sticks 
are placed into his hands for this specific pur- 
pose. We do not hesitate to make the asser- 
tion that there is uo material better fitted to 
teach the rudiments in figures, as also the more 
advanced steps in arithmetic, than Fra'bel's 
sticks. A few packages of the sticks in the 
hands of the pupil is all that is needed in the 
Kindergarten proper, and the following De- 
partment of the Primary School. 

The children receive a package with ten 
sticks each. Take one stick and lay it verti- 
cally on the table. Lay another at the side 
of it. How many sticks are now before you? 
Twice one makes two. 

Lay still another stick upon the table. How 
many are there now ? One and one and one — 
two and one are three. 

Still another, etc., etc., until all ten sticks 
are placed in a similar manner upon the table. 
Now take away one stick. How many remain? 



Ten less nine leaves one. Take away another 
stick from these nine. How many are left? 
Nine lessone leaves eight. Take another; this 

leaves seven ? etc., etc., until all the sticks 

are taken one by one from the table, and are 
in the child's hands again. Take two sticks 
and lay them upon the table, and place two 
others at some distance from them. (|| ||) How 
many are now on the table ? Two and two are 
four. Lay two uiore sticks beside these four 
sticks. How many are there now? Four and 
two are sii. Two more. How manj' are there 
now? Six and twoare e/(/7/f. And still another 
two. How many now? Eight and two are ten. 

The child has learned to add sticks bj' twos. 
If we do the opposite, he will also learn to 
subtract by twos. In similar manner we pro- 
ceed with ?/iree,/o((r and _^i'e. After that we 
alternate, with addition and subtraction. For 
instance, we lay three times two sticks upon 
the table and take away twice two, adding 
again four times two. Finally we give up the 
equality of the number and alternate, liy add- 
ing different numbers. We lay upon the tal.de 
two and three sticks which equal five, adding 
two, which equal seven, adding three, which 
equal ten. This affords opportunity to introduce 
six and nine, as a whole, more frequently than 
was the case in previous exercises. In subtrac- 
tion we observe the same method, and intro- 
duce exercises in which subtraction and addi- 
tion alternate with unequal numbers. Lay six 
sticks upon the table, take two away, add four, 
take away one, add three and ask the child how 
many sticks are on the table, after each of these 
operations. 

In like manner, as the child learned the 
figures from one to ten, and added and sub- 
tracted with them as far as the number of ten 
sticks admitted, it will now learn to use the 
tens up to one hundred. Packages of ten sticks 
are distributed. It treats each package as it 
did before the single stick. One is laid upon 
the table, and the child says, "Once ten ;" add 
a second, "Twice ten;" a third, "Three times 
ten," etc. Subsequently he is told, that it is 
not customary to say twice, or two times ten, 
but twenty ; not three times ten, but thirty, etc. 
This experience will take root so much the 
sooner, in his memorj', and become knowledge, 
as all this is the result of bis own activity. 

As soon as the child has acquired sufficient 
ability in adding and subtracting by tens, the 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



149 



combination of uuits and tens is introduced, to makethe cliildremmderstand wliat nwrnera-Zs 
The pupil receives two packages of ten sticks are, use the blackboard and show them that if 
—places one of them upon the table, opens we wish to mark down how many sticks, blocks, 
the second and adds its sticks one by one to or other things each of the children have, we 
the ten contained in the whole package. He might make one line for each stick, block, etc. 
learns ten and one equal eleven, ten and two AVrite then one small vertical line on the black- 
equal twelve, ten and three equal thirteen, until board, saying in writing, Charles has one stick; 
ten and ten equal twenty sticks. Gatheringthe making ?(ro lines beloiu the first, continue by 
ten loose sticks, the child receives another saying" Emma has two blocks; again, making 
package and places it beside the first whole three lines, Ernest has three rubber balls, and 
package. Ten and ten equal twenty sticks, so on until you have written ten lines, always 
Then he adds one of the loose sticks and says giving the name of the child and stating how 
twenty and one equal twenty-one, twenty and many objects he has. Then write opposite each 
two equal twenty-two, etc. Another package row of lines to the right, the Arabic figure ex- 
pressing the number of lines, and remark that 
instead of using so many lines, we can also use 
these figures, which we call numends. 

After the children have learned that the 
figures which we use for markins down the 



of ten brings the number to thirty-one, etc., 
etc., up to ninety-one sticks. In this manner 
he learns twenty-two, thirty-two, up to ninety- 
two, twenty-three to ninety-three and one 
Qundred, and to add and subtract within this 



limit. To be taught addition and subtraction number of things are called numerals, exercises 
in this manner, is to acquire sound knowledge, 
founded on self-activity and experience, and 
is far superior to any kind of mind-killing 
memorizing usually employed in this connec- 
tion. 

If addition and subtraction are each other's 
opposites, so addition and multiplication on 
the one hand, and subtraction and division on 



of the following character may be introduced. 
How many hands have each of you? Two. 
The numeral 2 is written on the board. How 
many fingers on each hand ? Five. This is writ- 
ten also on tiie board — .5. How many walls 
has this room? Four. Write this figure also 
on the board. How many days in the week 
are the children in the Kindergarten ? Six days. 



the other, are oppositioually equal, or, rather. The 6 is also written on the board. 



multiplication and di^^sion are shortened addi- 
tion and subtraction. 

In addition, when using equal numbers of 
sticks, tJie child finds that by adding two and 
two, and two and two sticks he receives eight 
sticks and is told that this may also be ex- 
pressed by saying four times two sticks are 
eight sticks. It will be easy to see how to pro- 
ceed with division, after the hints given above. 

Let none of our readers misunderstand us 
as intimating that all this should be accom- 
plished in the Kindergarten proper. 

Enough has been accomplished if the child in 
the Kindergarten by means of sticks and other 
material of occupation, has been enabled to 
have a clear understanding of figures in general. 

This will be the basis for further develop- 



Then repeat, and let the children repeat af- 
ter you, as an exercise in speaking, and at the 
same time, for the purpose of recollecting the 
numerals : 

Each child has 2 hands, on each hand are 
.5 fingers ; this room has 4 walls, — always em- 
phasizing the numerals, and pointing to them 
when they are named. 

The children may then count the objects in 
the room or elsewhere, and then lay with their 
sticks, the numerals expressing the number 
they have found, speaking in the meantime, a 
sentence asserting the fact which they have 
stated. 

As the occupation with laj'ing sticks is one 
of the earliest in the kindergarten, and is em- 
ployed in teaching numerals, and reading and 



ment in addition, subtraction, multiplication writing, and drawing also, it is evident how 
and division in the Primary Department. important a material of occupation was sup- 
It now remains to add the necessary advice plied by Fra?bel, in introducing the sticks as 
in regard to the introduction and representa- one of his Kindergarten Gifts* 
tion with the sticks of the numerals. In order 

* This is a simple and inexpensive material, but the shorter lengths are difficult for a child to place and 
hence are in danger of producing nervousness. The newer raetliods in vogue in teaching, reading, writing and 
drawing make the occupation useless in these subjects and even undesirable. The whole word or story now 
precedes the single letter in reading. In writing, attention is concentrated upon movement rather than u]ran 
form. Script also is used for beginners and caimot be shown with sticks. Capital letters only can be formed 
with the sticks; making .so many letters in capitals tends to teach children to use too many in writing. The 
sticks are valuable for counting lessons and for making groups of twos, threes, fours, etc., preparatory to 
addition and multiplication. Numerals should not be taught in the kindergarten at all. All the representation 
of numbers with packages of tens is excellent for primary work, but should never be taken up with childri.n 
\inder six years of age. The tendency even in the primary grades is to postpone Number work. Some 
psychologists tell us that the nascent jjcriod for Number comes after eight years of age, and more will then be 
learned in one year than in the three pre^•ious years and with less fatigue. 



150 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



EDITOR'S NOTES. 



As this gift is used to represent the line, it 
takes the child one step farther, into the ab- 
stract world, teaching both direction and out- 
lines. 

It consists of sticks from one to five inches 
iu length, which come in bundles or in a com- 
partment box containing fifteen hundred sticks 
of the natural wood or of the six spectrum 
colors,* which are more attractive to the chil- 
dren, and are helpful in color lessons and iu 
representing familiar objects. In presenting 
this gift first hand one stick to each child, call 
attention to it l)y asking what it looks like 
and where it came from. Give a talk on trees, 
telling how they spring from the seed and grow, 
and how the wood is used for various pm-poses. 



/ 



introduced, the teacher being careful to advance 
no faster than the child can follow. 

With four sticks a square may be fonned, 
or the sticks may be placed around a quad- 
rangular tablet, and then removed, showing 
the outline. 

The sticks are the foundation for outUne 
drawing, and after the children have made sim- 
ple objects with the sticks let them draw what 
they have made, on paper or the blackboard. 

Give simple lessons in dictation, and in or- 
der to cultivate imagination and to draw out 
the inventive powers of the children, let them 
arrange short sequences iu forms of life, add- 
ing interest by a story. 

Give sticks of different lengths, as this en- 
ables the children to make a greater va- 
riety of figures. AVhen using the two-inch 
stick lead them to see that it corresponds 
to the edge of the second gift cube. 

This gift is useful in making angles and 
geometrical figures. In the geometrical 
figures the first to be outlined is the square, 
following the face of the second gift cube 
aud the square tablet of the seventh gift. 

Direct attention to the right angles and 
let the children jioiut them out. FoUow 
this with obtuse and acute angles. When 
the fifth gift and tlie triangle of the sev- 
enth gift have been used then lay the sticks 
to form triangles, oblongs, pentagons, etc. 



v 



/h 



\ 




Fig. 73. 



Ask for different articles that are made from 
wood and give the process by whicli the sticks 
are prepared for use, how they are dyed, etc. ; 
then let the children place the sticks in different 
directions, the vertical, horizontal, aud slant- 
ing. Give a second stick, place them parallel, 
in different directions ; combine them and place 
them in all possible positions to each other. A 
number lesson in addition, subtraction and 
multiplication may be taught, and a third stick 

* See Chapter on Color. Plain wooden sticks should be used more than colored ones. It is a serious mistake 
to let children outline except in one color. Frequently a house is outlined with sticks of various colors, which is 
an absurdity. Suit the color to the object to be outlined when possible; otherwise use plain wood in the natural 
colors. To help in sorting a handful of colored sticks is a good exercise. 



Fig. 74. 

A great variety of life forms can be shown 
and to some extent symmetrical forms. It is 
well to let the children unite their sticks or com- 
bine them with I'iugs, especially iu the life forms, 
(Figs. 73 and 74). In this way a house with 
interior furnishings may be made, or a house, 
yard and fence. The world of occupation fur- 
nished by this gift is a continual wonder to the 
kindergartner. 



THE NINTH GIFT- 

WHOLE AND HALF RINGS FOR LAYLNG FIGURES. 



Immediately connected with the sticks, or 
straight lines, Fra-bel si'ives the representatives 
of the rounded, curved lines, in a box contain- 
ing twenty-four whole and forty-eight half cir- 
cles of two different sizes made of wire. The 
rings supply the means of representing a curved 
line perfectly, besides enabling us by their dif- 
ferent sizes to show "•the one within another." 

This gift is introduced in the same w.iy as 
all other pre\'ious gifts were introduced, and 
the rules by which this occupation is carried on 
must 1 le clear to every one who has followed us 
in our "Guide" to this point. 

The child receives one whole ring and two 
half rings of the larger size. Looking at the 
whole ring the children observe that there is 
neither beginning nor end in the ring — that it 
represents the circle, in w'hich there is neither 
beginning nor end. (Fig. 1). "With the half 

OX 

Fig. 1. Fig. 2. 

ring, they have two ends ; half rings, like half 
circiCS and all other parts of the circle or curved 
lines, have tn'O ends. Two of the half rings 
form one whole ring or circle, and the children 
are asked to show this by experiment. Various 
observations can be made by the children, ac- 
companied by remarks on the part of the 
teacher. "Whenever the child combined two 
cubes, two tablets, sticks or slats with one 
another, in all cases where corners and angles 
and ends were concerned in this combination. 




Fig. 3. 
corners and angles were again produced. The 
two half rings or half circles, however, do not 



form any angles. Neither could closed space 
be produced by two bodies, planes, nor lines. 
The two half circles, however, close tightly up 
to each other so that no opening remains. 

The child now places the two half circles in 
opposite directions. (Fig. 2). Before, the ends 
touched one another, now the middle of the 
half circles ; previously a closed space was 
formed, now both half circles are open, and 
where they touch one another, angles appear. 

Mediation is formed in Fig. 3, where both 
half circles tmicli each other at "uc end and re- 

XX 

Fig. 4. 
main open or as indicated by the dotted line, 
join at end and middle, thereby enclosing a 



M 




Fig. 5. Fig. G. 

small plane and forming angles in the meantime 
Two more half circles are presented. The 





Fig. 7. Fig. .s. 

child forms Fig. 4, and develops by mo^^ng 
the half circles in the direction from without 
to within. (Figs. 5-8). 

All these forms are, owing to the nature of 
the circular line, forms of beaut i/ or beautiful 
forms of life, and, therefore, the occupation 
with these rings is of such importance. The 
child produces forms of beauty with other ma- 



152 



CIOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



terial, it is true, but the curviHl line suggests tender and ])lin,l)le soul of the eliild, uiust needs 
to him in a higher degree than anything else be greater and more lasting. AVithout believ- 
idcas of the beautiful, and the simplest com- ing iu the doctrine of two inimi('al natures in 







Fig. 11. 
man said to be in constant conflict with each 
other, we do believe that tiie talents and dis- 
l)osition in human nature are subject to the 
l)Ossil)ility of lieing developed in two opposite 
directions. Jt is tliis possibility which con- 
ditions the necessity of education, the necessity 
of employing every means to giv(^1lie dormant 
inclinations and tastes in tiie cliild, a direction 
toward tlie true, and good, and l)eautiful, — in 
i'ig- '•'■ one word, toward the ideal. Among these 

bniations of a small number of half and whole means stands pre-eminently a rational and 

circles, also bear in themselves the stamp of 

beauty. (Figs. 0-12). 





Fig. 12. 
timely development of the sense of beauty, 
upon which Fncbel lays so much stress. 

Showing the young child objects of art which 
are far beyond the S|)here of his appreciation, 
however, will assist tliis develoiimcnt, uiucii less 
than to carefully guard tiuit his surround-ngs 
contain, and siiow the fundamental requisites 
of lieauty, viz. : Order, cleanliness, simplicity 
Fig. 1(1. and harmony of form, and giving assistance 

If the fact cannot be refuted, that merely to tiie child in the active i-epresentation to the 
looking at the beautiful favorably impresses beautiful in a manner adapted to the state of 
the mind of the grown person in regard to development in the child himself, 
direction of its development, enabling him to Likeformslaid with sticks, those represented 
more fully appreciate the good and true, and with rings and half i-ings also are imitated by 
noble, and sublime, tliis influence upon the the children by drawing them on slate or paper. 

EDITOR'S NOTES. 



This gift now consists of twelve whole, eight- 
een half and twelve quarter wire rings, for lay- 
ing figures which involve circles. It is a con. 
tinuation of the eighth gift and preparatory to 
drawing and designing, being used to represent 
an outline of a surface. 

The rings are made of steel, and come in 
three different sizes of one inch, one and one- 
half inch and two inches in diameter. In in- 



troducing this gift the largest ring should be 
given first, and attention called to its form and 
properties. A talk on iron, its uses, how it is 
dug out of the ground by miners, a description 
of the mines, of the [irocess the ore passes 
through, how it is melted and molded into 
useful machines and articles, how it is changed 
into steel, is l)oth interesting ami instructive to 
the children. Ask for ditferent things that are 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



153 



made of iron and steel, and draw from the chil- tions, the number and size of rings being in- 

drenthe reason why steel is valuable for knives, creased gradually. 

axes and other cutting utensils. A second AVlien a third ring is given, let the children 

suggest ways of laying tiicui. If they are of 
the same size, they may l)e placed side by side, 




Fis. 13. 




Fig. 14. 




in a group, in the form of a triangle, etc. If 
the different sizes are used, they may be placed 





one within the other, so that they are parallel, 
or they may touch at some point. Fonns of 




Fig. 18. 

sjTnmetry may be developed by several of these 
ring may he added and an exercise given in grouped together, as in Fig. 9. 
placing the rings in different ways and posi- The exercises with the half-rings are more 



15-1 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



vnteresting and iustructive, as the forms are 
more varied and change at every step. Have 
the children place the half-rings in different 
positions. Give each child the same quantity 
of material and let them lay a design. Fig. 10 
shows a combination of the half-rings. Se- 




Fig. lit. 




Fig. 20 




quences invohiug both half and whole rings 
may be given, as shown in Figs. 13-17. 

When the quartei-ring is given, let the chil- 
dren compare it with the half-ring and combine 
the two in different sizes. Figs. 18 and 19 are 
the smallest half and quarter-iings combined, 
and Fig. 20, shows the largest size of each. 



Figs. 21 and 22 give pretty border patterns 
which may be embellished. 

As the curved line is the line of beauty, this 
gift is better adapted for beautiful forms than 
any of the others. Forms of life, especially 
in flower designs, are developed with the quar- 




Fig. 23. 




Fig. 24. 

ter-rings as shown in Fig. 23, while Figs. 24, 
and 25 show a combination of the whole, half 
and quarter-rings. 

Fig. 26, shows a combination of the three 
smallest sizes of each, Fig. 27, of the second 
size, and Fig. 28 of the largest. Fig. 29 is a 
combination of the whole, half and quarter- 
rings in the three different sizes. 

The rings of this Gift and the sticks of the 
eighth may be combined with pleasing and 
profitable results as shown in Figs. 30-38 of 
which Figs. 34-38 are a sequence. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



155 




Fig. 25. 




Fia;. 26. 





Fis. 28. 




Fig. 29. 




1^ 




) 



Fig. 27. 



Fig. 30. 



156 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 




Fig. 32. 




Fisr. 33. 



^ 



Fig. 34. 




Fig. 35. 



<3fi) 



or,- 



e 



Fig. 36. 




Fig. 37. 





o4o 



6 



Fig. 38. 



THE TENTH GIFT* 

THE MATERIAL FOR DRAWING. 



One of the earliest oecupatious of the child 
should be methodical drawing. Frojbel's 
opinion and conviction ou this subject, de- 
viates from those of other educators, as much 
as in other respects. Frcebel, however does 
not advocate drawing, as it is usuallj' prac- 
ticed, which ou the whole, is nothing else but 
a more or less thoughtless mechanical copy- 
ing. The method advanced by Frcebel, is in- 
vented Ijy him, and perfected in accordance 
with his general educational principles. 

The pedagogical effect of the customary 
method of instruction in drawing, rests in 
many cases simply in the amount of trouble 
caused the pupil in surmounting technical 
difficulties. Just for that reason it should be 
abandoned entirely for the youngest pupils, 
for the difficulties in many cases are too great 
for the child to cope with. It is a work of 
Sisyphus, labor v-itliout result, naturally tend- 
ing to extirpate the pleasure of the child in his 
occupation, and the unavoidable consequence 
is that the majority of people will never reach 
the point where they can eujoj- the fruits of 
their endeavors. 

If we acknowledge that Froebel's education- 
al principles are correct, namely, that all 
manifestations of the child's life are manifes- 
tations of an innate instinctive desire for de- 
velopment, and therefore should be fostered 
and developed by a rational education in ac- 
cordance with the laws of nature, drawing- 
should be commenced with the third year; 
nay, its preparatory principles should be intro- 
duced at a still earlier period. 

With all the gifts, hitherto introduced, the 
children were able to study and represent forms 
and figures. Thus they have been occupied 
as it were, in drawing with bodies. This de- 
veloped their fantasy and taste, gi\'ing them 
in the meantime correct ideas of the solid, 
plane, and the embodied line. 

A desire soon awakes in the child, to repre- 
sent by drairiiig these lines and planes, these 
forms and objects. He is desirous of rep- 
resentation when he requests the mother to tell 
him a story, explain a picture. He is occu- 
pied in representation when breathing against 
the window-pane, and scrawling ou it with 



his finger, or when trying to make figures in 
the sand with a little stick. Each child is de- 
lighted to show what he can make, and should 
be assisted in every waj' to regulate this desire. 

Drawing not only develops the power of 
representing things the mind has perceived, 
but affords the best means for testing how far 
they have been perceived correctly. 

It was Froebel's task to invent a method 
adapted to the tender age of the child, and his 
slight dexterity of hand, and in the meantime 
to satisfy the claim of all his occupations, ie., 
that the child should not simply imitate, but 
proceed self-actingly, to perform work which 
enables him to reflect, reason, and finally to 
invent himself. 

Both claims have been most ingeniously 
satisfied by Frcebel. He gives the three 
j'ears old child a slate, one side of which is 
covered by a net-work of engraved lines (one- 
fourth of an inch apart), and he gives him in 
addition, thereto, the law of opposites and 
their mediation as a rule for his activity. 

The lines of the net-work guide the child in 
mo^^ng the pencil, they assist him in measuiing 
and comparing situation and position, size 
and relative center, and sides of objects. 

This facilitates the work greatly, and in con- 
sequence of this important assistance the 
child's desire for work is materially increased ; 
whereas obstacles in the earliest attempts at 
all kinds of work must necessarily discourage 
the beginner. 

Drawing ou the slate, with slate pencil is 
followed by drawing on paper with lead pen- 
cil. The paper of the drawing books is ruled 
like the slates. It is advisable to begin and 
continue the exercises in drawing on paper, 
in like manner as those on the slate were be- 
gun and continued, with this difference onlj', 
that owing to the progress made and skill ob- 
tained by the child, less repetitions may be 
needed to bring the pupil to perfection here, 
as was necessary in the use of the slate. 

It has been repeatedly suggested, that 
whenever a new material for occupation is in- 
troduced, the teacher should comment upon, 
or enter into conversation with the children, 
about the same ; the difference between draw- 



■ See Chapter on Drawing. — Page 21. 



158 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION; 



ing ou the slate and on paper, and the ma- 
terial used for both may give rise to many re- 
marks and instructive conversation.* 

It may be mentioned that the slate is first 
used, because the children can easily correct 
mistakes by wiping out what they have made, 
and that tliey should be much more careful in 
drawing on paper, as their productions can not 
appear perfectly clean and neat if it should 
be necessary to use the rubber often. 

Slate and slate pencil ai-e of the same ma- 
terial ; paper and lead jicncil are two very differ- 
ent things. Ou the slate the lines and figm'es 
drawn, appear white on darker ground. On 
the paper, lines and figures appear black on 
white ground. 

Moie advanced pu])ils use colored lead pen- 
cils instead of the common lilack lead pencils. 
This adds greatly to the appearance of the 
figures, and also enables the child to combine 
colors tastefully and fittingly. For the devel- 
opment of their sense of color, and of taste, 
these colored mosaic like figures are excel- 
lent practice. 

Drawing, as such, requires observation, at- 
tention, conception of the whole and its parts, 
the recollection of all, power of invention and 
combination of thought. Thus, by it, miud 
and fantasy are enriched with clear ideas and 
ti'ue and Ijeautiful pictures. For a free and 
active development of the senses, especially 
eye and feeling, drawng can be made of in- 
calculable benefit to the child, when its natu- 
ral instinct for it is correctly guided at its 
very awakening. The child is first occupied by 

THE \^RTICAL LINE. 

(See Figs. J— 42). 

The teacher draws on the slate a vertical Hue 
of a single length (one fourth of an inch) , say- 
ing while so doing, I draw a Hue of a single 
length downward. She then (lea^ang the line 
on the slate, or wiping it out) requires the child 
to do the same. (Fig. 1). She should show that 



Care should be exercised that the child hold 
the pencil properly, not press too much or too 
little on the slate, that the lines drawn be as 
equally heavy as possible, and that each single 
line be produced by one single stroke of the 
pencil. The teacher should occasionally ask : 
Wliat are you doing ? or, what have you done ? 



L 



Fig. 1. Fig. 2. 

the Hue she made commenced exactly at the 
crossing point of tn'o lines of the net-work, 
and also ended at such a point. 

* Slates have been discarded for hygienic reasons, 
for the young children. 



Fig. 3. Fig. 4. 

and the child should always answer in a com- 
plete sentence, showing that he works under- 
standingly. Soon the Hues may be drawn up- 



1 



j 


1 



Fig. 5. Fig. 6. 

wards also, and then they may be made al- 
ternately up and down over the entire slates 
until the cliild has acquired a certain degree of 
abiHty in haudliug the pencil. 



Fig. 7. Fig. ». 

The child is then required to draw a vertical 
Hue of two lengths, and advances slowly to lines 
of three, four and five lengths, (Figs. 2-5). 



Fig. 9. 
With the number five Frrebel stops on this 
step. One to five are known, even to the child 
three years old, by the number ou his fingers. 

Heavy craj'ons or the brush are preferred to pencils 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



159 



The productions thus far accomplished are 
now combined. The child draws, side by side 






Fig. 10. Fig. 11. 

of one another, lines of one and two lengths 
(Fig. 6), of one, two and three lengths (Fig. 
7), of one, two, three and four lengths (Fig. 
8), and finally lines of one, two, three, four 
aud five lengths (Fig. 9). It always forms 






, ^ 

. i r 4 

. _^ 



11-13 himself. Leading him to understand 
the points of Fig. 10 exactly, he will have no 
difficulty in representing the opposite. Instead 



Fig 12. Fig. 13. 

by BO doiug a right-angled triangle. We have 
noticed akeady, in using the tablets, that 






Fig. 15. 
of drawing the smallest line first, he will draw 
the longest ; instead of drawing it downward, 
he will move his pencil uinvard, or at least be- 






Fig. 16. 
gin to draw on the line which is bounded above 
and thus reach Fig. 11. By continued reflec- 



Fig. 14. 
right-angled triangles may lie in many different 
ways. The triangle (Figs. 9 and 10) can also 
assume various positions. In Fig. 10 the five 
lines stand on the l>ase line — the smallest is 
the first, the largest the last, the right angle is 
to the right below. In Fig. 11 the opposite is 
found — the five lines hang on the base-line, the 
largest comes first, the smallest last, and the 

right angle is to the left above. Figs. 12andl3 Fio-. 17. 

are forms of mediation of Figs. 10 and 11. tion entirely within the limits of his capabihties 

The child should be induced to find Figs, he will succeed in producing Figs. 12 and 13. 

There is no more nervous work for the young children than attempting to draw on lines. It is also very 
trying to the eye. It has been discarded by almost every one. It can be used several years later with advan- 
tage as preliminary to mechanical drawing. 



160 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



Thus hy a different way of combiiiatiou of 
five vertical lines, four forms have been pro- 
duced, consisting of equal parts being, how- 
ever, unlike, and therefore oppositionally alike. 
Each of these figures is a whole in itself. 
But as everytliiug is always part of a large 
whole, so also, these figures sen-e as elements 
for more extensive formations. 






Fig. 18. 
In this feature of Froebel's drawing method 
in which we progress from the simple to the 
more complicated in the most natural and logi- 
cal manner, unite parts to a whole and recog- 
nize the former as members of the latter, dis- 



lu Fig. 14 tlie right angles are just in the 
middle; in Fig. 15 they are the most outward 
corners. In the forms of mediation (Figs. 16 
and 17) , they are, it is true, on the middle line ; 
but in the meantime ou the outlines of the 
figures formed. In the other forms of media- 
tion, (Fig. 18, 19, etc.,) thej' lie together on 
the middle line ; but two in the middle, and 
two in the limits of the fieure. 






Fig. 2(1. 
Thus we have again, in Fig. 18-22, four 
forms consisting of exactly the same parts, 
which therefore are equal aud still have qual- 
ties of opposites. In the meantime, they are 
fit to be used as simple elements of following 
formations. In Fig. 22, they are combined 
into a star with filled middle. Nimierous forms 
of mediation maj' be produced, but we will 
work at present witli our simple elements. 



Fig. 19. 
cover the like in opposites, and the mediation 
of the latter, unquestionable guarantee is given 
that tlie deUght of the eliild will be renewed 
and increased, throughout the whole course of 
instruction. Let Figs. 10-13 be so united that 
the right angles connect in the center (Fig. 14), 
and again unite them so that all right angles 
are on the otitside (Fig. 15). Figs. 14 and 
15 are opposites. Fig. 14 is a square with 
filled inside and standing ou one corner. Fig. 
15 one resting on its base, with hollow middle. 



Fig. 21. 
Owing to the similarity in the method of 
drawing to that employed in the laying of the 
right angled, isosceles triangle, it is natural 
that we should here also arrive at the so-called 
rotation figures, by grouping our triangles with 
theii- acute angles toward the middle (Figs. 23 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



161 



and 24), or arrange them around a hollow 
square (Figs. 25 and 26). 

Figs. 27 and 28 are forms of mediation be- 
tween Figs. 23 and 24 and at the same time 
between Figs. 14 and 15. 



As pre\iously remarked, the slate is ex- 
changed for a drawing book as soon as the 
progress of the child warrants this change. 
It affords a peculiar charm to the pupil to see 
his productions assume a certain durability and 



i t __ ^ 





_ _ 



Fig. 22. 
All these forms again serve as material for 
new inventions. As an example, we produce 
Fig. 21) composed of Figs. 27 and 28. 



Fig. 24. 
permanency enabling him to measiu-e, by 
them, the progress of growing strength 
and ability. 

So far the ti'iangles produced by co- 
arrangement of our five lines were right- 
angled. Other triangles, however, can be 
produced also. This however, requires 
more practice and security in handling the 
pencil. 

Figs. 30 and 31 show an arrangement 
of the five lines of acute angled ( equi- 
lateral) triangles, and are opposites. Their 



; ; ^_^ 








Fig. 23. 

The number of positions in which our orig- Fig. 25. 

inal elements (Fi^s. 10-13) can be placed by union gives the opposites Figs. 32 and 33 ; fi- 

one another, is here-nith not exhausted by far, naUy, the combination of these two. Fig 34. 

as the initiated ^dll observe. In the last three figures we also meet now 



162 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 






Fig. 26. 



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Fig. 27. 






Fig. 29. 



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Fig. 30. 



Fig. 31. 



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Fig. 32. 





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Fig. 28. 



Fig. 33. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



163 



Fig. 34. 
















— 





















- 






























































a 




































































































































































































































































































































































































































b 


















































































































































































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Fig. 35. 

















































































































































































































































Fig. S 


7. 
























































































Fig. 3 


S. 




















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Fig. 3 


9. 























































































































Fig. 36. 



Fig. 40. 



164 



GOLDEN JUBILP:E EDITION. 



the obtuse angle. This finds its separate rep- 
resentation in a of Fig. 3.5 ; opposition accord- 
to position is given in b ; mediation in c and d 
and the combination of these four elements in 
one rhomlioid fomiing Fig. 35. The four ob- 
tuse angles are turned inwardly. Fig. 37, the 






Fig. 41. 
opposite of Fig. 35, is produced by arranging 
the triangles in such a manner that the obtuse 
angles are turned outwardly. Fig. 36 presents 
the form of mediation. 






Fig. 42. 
It is evident that with obtuse-angled trian- 
gles as with right-angled triangles, combina- 
tions can be produced. Indeed, the pupil who 
has grown into the systematic i)lan of develop- 
ment and combination will soon be enabled to 
miite given elements in manifold ways ; he will 
produce stars with filled and hollow middle, 



rotation forms, etc., and his mental and phys- 
ical power and capacity will be developed and 
strengthened by such inventive exercises. 

Side by side with invention of forms of 
beauty and knowledge, the representation of 
forms of life takes place, in free individual ac- 
tivity. The child forms, of lines of one length, 
a plate, (Fig. 38), or a star, (Fig. 39), of 
lines of one and two lengths a cross, (Fig. 40), 
of lines up to four lengths lie repi'esents a 
coffee-mill, (Fig. 41), and employs the whole 
material of vertical lines at his command in 
the construction of a large building with part 
of wall connected with it. (Fig. 42). Equal 
consideration, however, is to be bestowed upon 
the opposite of the vertical. 

THE HORIZONTAL LINE. 

Figs. 43—63. 

The child learns to di-aw lines of a single 
length below each other, then lines of two, three, 
four and five lengths, (Figs. 43-47). He ar- 
ranges them also beside each other, (Figs. 
48-50 ) , unites lines of one 
and two lengths, (Fig. 
51), of on e , t w o a n d 
three lengths, (Fig. 62), 
of one to four leng t h s , 
(Fig. 53) , finally o f o ne 
to five lengths, thereby 
producing the right angled 
triangle. Fig. 64,it3oppo- 
sitCi Fig. 55, and forms of 
mediation. Figs. 56 and 
57. The pupil arranges 
the elements into a square 
with filled middle, (Fig. 
58 ) , with hollow middle, , 
(Fig. 50), produces the 
forms of mediation, (Fig. 
60), and continues to 
treat the horizontal line 
just as' he has been taught 
to do with the vertical. 
Rotation forms, largeriig- 
ures, acute and obtnse- 
angled triangles can be formed ; forms of 
beauty, knowledge and life are also invented 
here, (Fig. Gl, adjustable lamp; Fig. 62, 
key ; Fig. 63, pigeon-house) ; and after the 
child has accomphshed all this, he arrives fi- 
nally, in a most natural way, at the combina- 
tion of vertical and horizontal hues. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



165 



Fig. 43. Fig. 44. 



-i— ■ 



Fig. 45. 



Fig. 5G. 



Fis. 57. 



Fig. 46. 





t 1 ! i 



F^g. 47. 























































































































































































































































































- 


— 




































r 







Figs. 48. Fig. 49. Fig. 50. Fig. 51. 



Fig. 62. 



i 1 1 I t - 
Fig. 53. 



Fig. 54. 



Fig. 55. 



Fig. 58. 



^_^ I t t I I 1 I I I t 



.-- , 



Fig. 59. 






Fig. 60. 



166 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 







.^— _— .^^ — — 

——-—-- * '. 



Fig. 61. Fig. 

COMBINATION OF ^^:RTICAL AND 
HORIZONTAL LINES. 

Figs. 64 — 92. 

First, lines of one single length are com- 
bined ; •ue already have four forms different as 
to position, (Fig. 64). Then follow the com- 
bination of two, tlu-ee, four, live-fold lengths, 



62. 



Fig. 63. 



Fig. 69 is produced. Its opposite Fig. 70 and 
the forms of mediation, can be easily found. A 
union of these four elements appears iu the 
square, Fig. 71; opposite Fig. 72. Iu Fig. 71, 
the right angles are turned toward the middle, 



Fig. 64. Fig. 65. 

(Figs. 6.5-68) with each of which fom* opposites 
as to position are possible. As jireviously, 



Fig. 68. Fig. 69. 

and the middle is full. In Fig. 71 the reverse 
is the case. Forms of mediation easily found. 



Fig. 66 Fig. 67. 

lines of one to five-fold lengths are united to 
triangles, so now the angles are united and 



Fig. 70. 
If vertical and horizontal lines can be united 
only to form right angles, we have previously 
seeu that vertical as well as horizontal lines 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



167 



may be combined to obtuse and acute-angled 
triangles. The same is possible, if they are 
united. Fig. 73 gives us an example. 

As in Fig. 73, the vertical lines form an ob- 
tuse-angled triangle, so the horizontal lines, 
and finally lioth kinds of lines can at the same 
time be arranged into ol)tuse-angled triangles. 



known manner. Figs. 73 and 75 are such 
fundamental forms ; the development of which 
to other figures will give rise to many instruc- 






Fig. 71. 

Thus a series of new elements is produced, 
whose systematic employment the teacher 
should take care to facilitate. 

So far we have only formed angles of lines 
equal in length ; 1)ut lines of unequal lengths 







Fig. 73. 
tive remarks. These figures show us that for 
such formations the horizontal as well as the 



" " \ 



Fig. 72. 
may be combined for this purpose. Exactly 
in the same manner as lines of a single length 
were treated, the child now combines fue line 
of a single length with that of two lengths, 
then, in the same way, the line of two lengths 
with that of four lengths, that of three with 
that of sis, that of four with that of eight, and 
finally, the line of five lengths with that of ten. 
The combination of these angles affords new 
elements with which the pupil can continue to 
form interesting figures in the already well- 



Fig. 74. 
vertical line may have the double length. Fig. 
74 sliows the horizontal lines combined in such 
a way as if to form an acute-angled triangle. 
They, however, fomi a right-angled triangle, 
only the right angle is not, as heretofore, at 
the end of the longest line, but where? An 
acute-angled triangle would result, if the hor- 
izontal lines were all two net-squares distant 
from each other. Then, however, the vertical 
lines would form an obtuse-angled triangle. 
Important progress is made, when we com- 



168 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



Fig. 75. 
bine liorizontal a n d ver t i cal 
lines in such a way that by 
touching in two points they 
form closed figures, squares 
and oblongs. Fig. 78. 

and iive lines. These are com) liued then 
as vertical lines were combined also 1^ 
with 2% the 1=, 2% and 3% etc. These 
eoml)inations can be carried out in a 
vertical direction, when the squares will 
stand over or under each other ; or in a 
horizontal, when the squares will stand 
side liy side ; or, finally, these two oppo- 
sites may be combined with one another. 
Fig. 76, shows as an example a combi- 
nation of foursquares in a horizontal di- 
rection, its opposite, and forms of me- 
diation. 

In Fig. 77, squares of the 
first, second and third sizes 
are combined, vertically and 
horizonta 1 1 y , f o r m i ng a 
right angle to the right be- 
low ; then comes the oppo- 
site, (angle left above) and 
the forms of med i a t i o n . 
The same rule is f ol 1 o w ed 
Fig. 77. here as with the right angle 

First, the child draws squares of one-length's formed by single lines. The simple elements are 
dimension, then of two-lengths, of three, four, combined with each other into a square with 






Fig. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



169 



Fig. 79. 



hollow middle, etc. ; and from the new elements tially new element should give rise to a mmr 
thus produced larger figures are again created, ber of exercises, conditioned only by the iudi- 
as the example Fig. 78, illusti-ates. Squares of \adual ability of the child. It must be left to 

the faithful teacher, by an earnest ob- 
^ serration and study of her pupils, to 
_ find the right extent, here as every 
_ where in then- occupations. Indis- 

— criminate skipping is not allowed, 
neither to i)upil nor teacher ; each fol- 

— lowing production must, nnder all cir- 
~ cumstauces be derived from the pre- 
~ ceding one. 
[^ As the square was the re s u 1 1 of 

angles formed of lines of equal length, 
so also with the oblong. Here, too, 
the child begins with the simplest. He 
forms oblongs, the base of which is a 
single line, the height of which is a line 
of double length. He reverses the case 
then. Base line two, height single length. 
Retaining the same proportions, he pro- 
gi'esses to larger oblongs, the height of 
which is double the size of its base, and 
vice versa, until he has reached the nimi- 
bers five and ten. 

It is but natural that these oblongs, 
standing or lying, should also be united in 
vertical and horizontal directions. Each 
form thus produced again assumes four 
different positions, and the four ele- 
ments are again united to new 
formations, according to the rules 
previously explained. Fig. 79 a 
shows au arangement of standing 
oblongs, in horizontal directious. 
The opposite would contain the 
right angle, at a to the right be- 
low — to the left above ; Fig. 79 c 
would be one form of mediation, 
a second one, (opposite of Fig. 
79 c) would have its right angle to 
the right above. 

Fig. SO shows a combination of 
lying oblongs, in a vertical dkec- 
tion. Fig. 81 shows oblongs in 
vertical and horizontal directions. 
Fig. 82 a combination of standing 
and lying oblongs, the former being 
arranged vertically, the latter, hori- 
zontally. 

In Fig. 8.3, we find standing ob- 
a Fig. 81. c longs so combined that the form represents an 

from one to five length lines of course admit of acute-angled triangle ; a and c are the only 
being combined in similar manner. Each essen- possible opposites in the same. 



t '—. a 

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' ' -^ ^ ^ ^— ^ — . — - ■« 

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— ^ '9 

1 
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Fig, 80. 






170 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



Fia;. 82. 















































































































































































































































































































■ 



















Fig. 86. 



Fig. 83. 

















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Fig. 87. 



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ig 


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Fig. 84. 



Fig. 85. 



Fig. 89. 



Fig. 90. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



171 

























Fig 


• 


91 


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. 






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ig 




12 




















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































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k 


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Fig. 93. 



These few examples may suffice to 
indicate the abimdauce of forms which 
may be constructed with such simple 
material as tlie horizontal and verti- 
cal lines, from one to five lengths, 
(and double). 

It is the task of the educator to 
lead the learner to detect the elements, 
logically, in order to produce with 
them, new forms in unlimited num- 
bers, within the boundaries of the 
laws laid down for this purpose. 

But even without using these ele- 
ments, the child will be able, owing 
to continued practice, to represent 
manifold forms of life and beauty, 
l)artly by his own free invention, 
partly by imitating the objects he 
has seen before. As samples of 
the former. Fig. 90 shows a cross, 
Fig. 92 a triumphal gate. Fig. 93 a 
windmill ; of thelatte'i-,Figs. 84-86, 
89 and 91 show samples of borders. 
Figs. 87 and 88 show other simple 
embellishments. As the vertical 
line conditioned its opposite, the 
horizontal line, both again condi- 
tion their mediation. 

OBLIQUE LINES. 

(Figs. 94—134). 

Our remarks here can be brief as the opera- 
tions are nothing but a repetition of those in 
connection with the vertical line. 

The child practices the drawing of lines from 
one to five lengths, (Figs 94-98) and combines 
these, receiving thereby four oppositionally 
equal right-angled triangles, (Fig. 99-102), 
of which it produces a square, (Fig. 103), its 
opposite, (Fig. 104), forms of mediation, (Fig. 
105), and finally large figures. 

Then the lines are arranged into obtuse an- 
gles, and the same process gone through with 
them. 

With these, as in Fig. 106, its opposite Fig. 
109, and its forms of mediation, Figs. 107 and 
108, the obtuse angles will be found at the 
vertical middle line, or as in Fig. 110, at the 
horizontal middle line. By a comliinatioa of 
Figs. 108 and 110 we produce a star. Fig. 112. 
Finally we have also, reached here the forma- 
tion of the acute angled triangle, (Fig. 111). 
The oblique line presents oarticular richness 



172 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



in forms, as it may be a line of various degrees In all these cases, the obliques were diag- 
of inclination. It is an oblique of the first de- onals of standing oblongs. They may just as 
gree whenever it appears as the diagonal of a well be dingonals of lying oblongs, pig. H6 







— 






/ 


/ 














Fig. 96. 
When it appears 
as the diagonal of an oblong, it is either an 



Fig. 94. Fig. 9.5. 

square, as in Figs. 94:-ll'2 



— 


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, 














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/ 






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/ 


/ 


/ 


/ 


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-^ 


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— 







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— 


— 










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/ 


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/ 




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WIN 










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Fig. 97. Fig. 98. 

oblique of the second, third, fourth or fifth de- 
gree, according to the proportions of the base 
Une and height of the oblong, one to two, one 
to three, one to four, one to five 



Fig. 103. 
in which obliques from the tirst to the lifth de- 
gree are united, will illustrate this. The ob- 
liques are here aiTanged one above the other. 





— 


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— 




— 




— 


— 


— 


— 








/ 


/ 


/ 




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— 


— 


— 










— 


— 


— 







Fig. 99. Fig. 100. 

The upper left hand corner of Fig. 113, 
shows obliques of the second degree united to 
a right-angled triangle ; the lower right hand 



Fio;. 104. 



Fig. 101. Fig. 102. 

its opposite ; and the remaining two corners 
form mediations. 

In Fig. 114, the same lines are united in an 
obtuse-angled triangle. In Fig. 115, they Anally 
form an acute angle. 



— 


— 


— 




— 




— 


— 


— 


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In Fig. 117, the right and left sides show a simi- 
lar combination ; the obliques, however, are ar- 
ranged beside one another ; the upper and 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



173 







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174 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 









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PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



175 







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176 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



Fio;. 12ii. 



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Fig. 134. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



177 



lower members are formed of diagonals of 
standing oblongs. 

Obliques of various grades can be united 
with one point as in Fig. 118, beside -which the 
form of mediation would appear as Fig. 119. 

As in this case, lying figures are produced, 
standing ones can be produced likewise. Each 
two of the elements thus received may be united 
BO that all obliques issue from one point, asiit 
Fig. 120, and in its opposite. Fig. 121. 

An oppositional combination can alsotake 
place, so that each two lines of the same grade 
meet, (Fig. 122). The combination of obliques 
with obliques to angles, to squares and oblongs 
now follow, analogous to the method of com- 
bining oblongs, vertical and horizontal lines. 
Finally the combination of vertical and oblique, 
horizontal and obliipie lines to angles, rhombus 
and rhomboid is introduced. 

AVith these, the child tries his skill in pro- 
ducing forms of life: Fig. 133, gate of a for- 
tress; Fig. 134, church with a schoolhouse 
and cemetery wall, and forms of beauty : Figs. 
123-132. The task of the Kindergarten and 
the teacher has been accomplished, if the child 
has learned to manage ol:)lique lines of the first 
and second degree skillfully. All given in- 
struction which aimed at something beyond 
this was intended for the study of the teacher 
and the primary department, which is still more 
the case in regard to the curved line. 

THE CURVED LINE. 

(Figs. 135—147.) 

Simply to indicate the progress, and to give 
Frcebel's system of instruction in drawing com- 
plete, we add the following, and Figs. 135-147 
in illusti'ation of it. 

First, the child has to acquire the ability to 
draw a curved line. The simplest curved lino 
is the circle, from which all others may be 
derived. 

However, it is difficult to draw a circle, and 
the net on slate and paper do not afford suffi- 
cient help and guiile for so doing. But on the 
other hand, the child has lieen enabled to d.aw 
squares, straight and oblique lines, and with 
the assistance of these it is not difficult to find 
a nimrber of points which lie on the periphery 
of a circle of given size. 

It is known that all corners of a quadrangle 
(square or oblong) lie in the periphery of a 
circle whose diameter is the diagonal of the 



quadrangle. In the same manner all other right 
angles constructed over the diameter, are pe- 
riphery angles, affording a point of the desii-ed 
circular line. It is therefore necessary to con- 
struct such right angles, and this can be done 
very readily with the assistance of obliques of 
various grades. 







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Fig. 135. 

Suppose we draw from point a (Fig. 135), 
an oblique of the third degree, as the diagonal 
of a standing oblong ; draw then, starting from 
point c, an oblong of the third degree, as diag- 
onal of a lying oblong, and continue both these 
lines. They will meet in point «, and there 
form a right angle. 

All obliques of the same degree, drawn from 
opposite points, will do the same as soon as 
the one approaches the vertical in the same 
proportion in which the other comes near the 
horizontal, or as soon as the one is the diag- 
onal of a standing, the other of a lying oblong. 



/ 



Fig. 13(5. 
The lines Aa and Co are obliques of the 
third. Ah and Cb of the second, 4/^ and Cfoi 
the third degree, etc., etc. In this manner it 
is easy to find a number of points, all of which 
are points in the circular line, intended to be 
drawn. Two or thi-ee of them over each side. 



178 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



will suffice to facilitate the drawing of the cir- 
ccMscribiug circle (Fig. 136). lulike niauuer 
the iNTERScribiug circle, will be obtaiued by 
drawing the middle transversals of the square, 
(Fig. 137), and constructing from their eud- 
poiuts angles iu the pre%'iously described 
manner. 

After the pupil has obtaiued a 
correct idea of the size and form 
of the circle, whose radius may 
be of from one to five lengths, he 



the combination of d and c. In Fig. 142, the 
arrangement finally takes place in oblique 
direction, and all lines meet in one point. 
The quarter circle is followed by the half 



ill 






Fig. 137. Fig. 138. 

will divide the same iu half and quarter circles, 
producing thereby the elements for his farther 
activity. 




Fig. 13'J. 

The course of instruction is here again the 
same as that in connection with the vertical 
line. The pupil begins with quarter circles, 
radius of which is of a single length . Then fol- 
low quarter circles with a radius of from two 
to five lengths. By arrangement of these five 





Fig. 140. Fig. 141. 

quarter circles, four elements are produced, 
which are treated in the same manner as the 
triangles produced by arrangement of five 
straight lines. The segments may be parallel 
and the arrangement may take place in vertical 
and horizontal direction, (Figs. 138 and 139), 
or they may, like the obliques of various de- 
grees, meet in one point, as in Fig. 142, of 
which Figs. 138 and 139 are examples. 

Fig. 140 represents the combination of the 
elements a and ri as a new element ; Fig. 141 



f- .*- — I 1 9 

L. . 



Fig. 142. 
cu-cle,(Figs. 143-145); then the three fourths 
circle, (Fig. 146), and the whole circle, as 
shown in Fig. 147. 





1 






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With the introduction of each new Mne, the 
same manner of proceeding is obseiTed. 

Notwithstanding the bre\-ity with which we 



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have treated the subject, we nevertheless be- 
lieve we have presented the course of insti-ue- 
tiou in drawing sutHciently clear and forcible, 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



179 



aad hope that by it we have made evident : — drawing for the future life of the pupil — may 

1. That the method described here is per- he be led therein by its significance for Indus- 

fectly adapted to the child's abihties, and fit 

to develop them in the most logical manner. 




V. 



F=^ 



2^ 



Fig. 145. Fig. 146. 

2. That the abundance of mathematical 
perceptions offered with it, and the constant 
necessity for combining according to certain 
laws, cannot fail to surely exert a wholesome 
influence in the mental development of the pupil. 

3. That the child thus prepared for future 
instruction in drawing, will derive from such 
instruction more benefit than a child prepared 
by auj' other method. 

"Whosoever acknowledges the importance of 









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trial purposes, or aesthetic enjojnnent, which 
latter it may afford even the ])oorest I — ^will be 
unanimous with us in advocating an earlj' com- 
mencement of this liranch of instruction with 
the child. 

If there be any skeptics on this point, let 
them try the experiment, and we are sure they 
will be "won over to our side of the question. 



EDITOK'S NOTES. 



The system of drawing based on netted slates 
and paper, as recommended I)}' Froebel has been 
freely criticised in recent years, and by some 
kiudergartners entirely discarded. The draw- 
ing exei'cises which have been ah-eadj' given 
were devised either by Frcebel or his early fol- 
lowers in accordance with the principles which 
he is supposed to have held. If Frcebel had 
received in his youth the instruction in draw- 
ing which is enjoyed by the children of the 
present time he probably would have developed 
a system of drawing for the kindergarten some- 
what different from that which bears his name, 
and yet it is safe for his followers to hesitate 
before they entirely discard his suggestions on 
this subject. It is well in this connection to 
consider how much of his work has come to be 
recognized as of great value, after having been 
neglected and practically ignored b_y our best 
educators for a generation, and we should give 
careful attention to the clahns made for the 
netted drawing, adopt as much of it as seems 
*See the "Little Artist " in Froebel's Mother Play. 



to be of value and then go on with the more 
modern methods which have been proved to be 
desirable, during the last tweutj'-five years of 
progress in art and industrial education. In 
free-hand drawing Froebel has practically left 
us no suggestions.* He was a sui-s-eyor and 
a mathematical draftsman with no training in 
artistic free-hand drawing. Prof. Wiebe seems 
to have quite clearly set forth the principal 
features of value in the system of drawing used 
by FrQ?bel and developed liy his followers for 
twentj'-five years after his death. The editor 
prefers in this edition of Prof. "Wiebe's book to 
treat of netted drawing as it was advocated by 
Frabel, without addition to the original text or 
argument for its valuable qualities. 

In addition to the exercises thus recom- 
mended there is undoubtedly some educational 
profit in copying on netted paper the designs 
laid on the kindergarten table with sticks, and 
whatever of value there is in this work may be 
secured bj' using sticks from one to four inches 
His suggestions are admirable for free drawing. In 



the commentary as well as in the rhymes and pictures suggestions are given to the mother for early drawing. 
See chapter on Drawing of present edition where these suggestions are explained. See also plates showing 
children's free drawing. 



ISO 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



long to form the designs on the table, and net- 
ted paper with one quarter to one half inch 
squares for copying the figures. A hal)it of 
accuracy is cultivated and some ability in imi- 
tating is developed in such work, which must 
be of value in almost any phase of industrial 
art. The reproduction of this school of netted 
drawing, with such prominence as it here as- 
sumes in comparison with all else that is shown 
of drawing in this book, is not intended to in- 
dicate its relative importance at the present 
time, but to avoid losing sight of Frwbel's rec- 
ommendations. Little space is here devoted 
to the modern methods of instruction in draw- 
ing because these are constantly before the 
teachers and are also fully explained by com- 
petent writers in various publications relating 
to the subject. For the use of slates, either in 
the kindergarten or the school, there is no ex- 
cuse at the present day. The one argument 
of economy is offset a hundred fold by hygienic 
and other objections which are patent to all who 
have given thought to the question. 

Before drawing can be intelligently taught 
in any kindergarten the teacher must know so 
much of the subject as to l)e able to select from 
tlie various systems f>f jirimary drawing the pe- 
culiar features best adapted to the kindergar- 
ten. A child m his second kindergarten year 
ought to be better prepared to undertake any 
phase of drawing than a pupil in the second 
year of the primar3' school without any pre- 
vious kindergarten experience, because of the 
superior training in form perception and manual 
dexterity which the kindergarten affords in the 
first year. 

Thawing is a universal language by which 
communication may be held between all classes 
of the human race. The Hieroglyphics of the 
ancient nations and the rude drawings of the 
American Indians are the means by which ideas 
were transmitted from one age to another and 
by which we are to learn much of life in the 
past. Careful observation must precede draw- 
ing, and any drawing which represents in a 
reasonable degree the leading truths regarding 
the form of objects, is legitimate and not with- 
out value. The most progressive methods of 
teaching drawing in our schools to-day are 
founded on form study and model drawing, and 
therefore the children of the kindergarten have 
a great advantage over others in learning to 
draw, because the instruction of the kinder- 



garten includes so much of form study that the 
pupils learn to perceive more clearly than other 
children the fundamental forms in the objects 
around them. 

Educationally, elementary drawing may be 
divided into three general classes : Illustrative 
drawing ; mathematical or instrumental draw- 
ing, which is often termed mechanical drawing ; 
and free-hand objective drawing, or drawing 
from models. In this order illustrative draw- 
ing is placed first because it is the first at- 
tempt of the savage and the child to express 
ideas by pictorial illustration. This must also 
be considered again after all others, because it 
is the highest achievement of the artist to ex- 
press ideals surpassing in lieauty all nature. 
If properly encouraged, the child from the 
earliest age at which he can hold a pencil is 
delighted to draw rude representations of his 
pets and toys. He will often see in his draw- 
ing a likeness to an object which does not ap- 
pear to the more mature perceptions, because 
the child grasps the general forms or more 
striking features without observing the minor 
details. In this faculty the infant possesses 
naturally that whicii the older student must ac- 
quire before ho can become an expert artist. 
Therefore the kindergarten child should have 
free access at pro|)er times to the blackboard, 
or be furnished with cheap paper and pencil 
for illustrating in his own way the stories whicli 
are told to him or which he may be led to tell 
of his own experience. In such drawings it is 
not expected that any of the truths of perspec- 
tive will be verj' accm-ately expressed. It may 
be that a cat, a chicken, a house or a tree will 
be drawn, and if the resemblance which is at- 
tempted is approximated in the result it should 
receive such approval as will furnish encourage- 
ment to further effort. This idea was not popu- 
lar fifty years ago and the noontime efforts 'of 
the district school pupils to decorate the black- 
boards, schoolroom walls and desk tops with 
samples of elementary art and "knife work" 
were frowned upon in such a ])ractical man- 
ner as to destroy all amiiition for excellence in 
graphic expression as well as manual training. 
The kindergarten may be the means for de- 
veloping many an artist as well as an artizan 
who would otherwise never sliow any talent in 
these directions. 

If the teacher has given such attention to the 
simplest elements of illustrative drawing as 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



181 




fe'-^^K 



Fig 153. 




182 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



will emiljle her tu prodiiue siicli blackboard 
sketches as are suggested by the simple outlines 
shown in Figs. 148-154, the frequent use of 
this faculty will give the children samples that 
may stimulate them to accom[)lish the same 
results in the expression of their own ideas, 
and if they should merely imitate the work of 
the teacher no harm can result as the work will 
afford the best possible training in finger and 
arm movements. 

Instrumental drawing which is suggested as 
the second division of the general subject, in- 
cludes all drawing made to a scale, such as a 
map wiiich is the plan of a section of country, 
or a square which is a drawing of one face of 
a cube. In all such drawings no representa- 
tion of solidity by means of perspective is at- 
tempted, and they are made either the exact 
size of the object or of some definite propor- 
tion as one half size, one quarter size, etc., 
and therefore by the use of a suitable "scale" 
may be measured and the actual size of the ob- 
ject determined so that it can be correctly re- 
jirodueed from the drawing. vSucli drawings 
are often called "working drawings." In the 
kindergarten only "full size" drawings should 
be attempted and for this purpose the forms 
found in the kindergarten material cannot be 
surpassed as models. Because the ball is a 
circle from whatever position it is viewed, this 
fact regarding its form is easily perceived by 
the child and thus if he lays the round tablet 
of the seventh gift on his paper and marks 
around it, he will have a circle which is an out- 
line of a ball and may l)e finished to represent 
a first-gift ball by adding a line for the string. 
If the square tablet is used as a pattern to be 
marked aroimd, it will represent the face [of a 
third-gift cube. So also theother tablets may 
serve as patterns for drawing representations 
of the faces of the other gift blocks. 

In the four-inch folding paper we have one 
of the most valuable drawing models for this 
class of work. For example let the pupil lay 
a four-inch square folding paper on a sheet of 
plain drawing paper, make a dot at each cor- 
ner, remove the paper and with a ruler for a 
guide draw the four straight lines connecting 
the dots and forming a square. This square 
is a complete mathematical drawing of the 
folding paper, because the paper practically 
has no thickness and therefore has but two 
dimensions, both of which are shown in the 



drawing. Now fold the paper accurately, one 
edge to the opposite edge, unfold and carefully 
lay the paper on the drawing of the square al- 
ready outlined, and make a dot at each end 
of the crease produced by the fold. Remove 
the paper and with the aid of the ruler draw a 
line connecting the dots and representing the 



Fig. 155. 



Fig. 156. 




Fig. 157. 





Fig. 159. 



Fig. 160. 



creases made bj' the fold, as in Fig. 155. Fold 
the other two opposite edges together in the 
same way and draw the line representing the 
second crease at right angles to the first, form- 
ing Fig. 156. Now fold the four corners to the 
center, unfold and draw lines representing the 
four new creases as indicated in Fig. 157. An- 
other simple sequence is shown in Figs. 158, 
159, and 160, while many others may be de- 
vised. As geometrical drawing in the higher 
grades develops the power of exact obser- 
vation and manual performance, so the net- 
ted drawing of Frwbel and the previously de- 
scribed practice with the tablets and folding 
papers as models are equally useful in culti- 
vating the same qualities in the kindergarten. 
The teacher must constantly have in mind the 
fact that all exercises with the children which 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



183 



modificatious of the cylinder; Figs. 178-183 
represent the fourth gift, while Figs. 184-186 
embody the triangular prism of the fifth gift ; 
Figs. 178,183 and 184 maybe 
considered a combination of the 
fourth and fifth gifts. 

It is neither necessary nor 
desirable to attempt in the brief 
space of a Kindergarten Hand 
Book to make further sugges- 
tions in this line, because so 
many* simple and practical 
books on the subject have been 
published which apply as well 
to the higher grades of the kin- 
dergarten as to the lower school 
grades for which they were writ- 
ten. Form perception and man- 
ual training, which are such 
prominent features in the kin- 
dergarten, are the chief fac- 
tors in correct drawing, and 
Fig. 161. correct drawing is absolutely 
necessary to good art, as well as to mechanical 
construction. A well-known teacher and writer 
on the subject of art instruction has said : 
••The geometric figures enter into the subject of 




require accuracy and close attention nmst be 
used for only a very few minutes at one sit- 
ting. But because this restriction is necessary 
it must not be inferred that all exercises requir- 
ing any degree of exactness must be abolished 
or forbidden in the kindergarten. It is not 
necessary to especially impress upon a compe- 
tent kindergartner the necessity for accuracy 
when accuracy is required, as it is a funda- 
mental principle of her profession, but it is 
well for her to know also that it is not ignored 
by the best artists, although too often neg- 
lected liy pseudo-artists who pose as authority. 
In these days of practical ideas an artist en- 
hances his commercial value and does not lose 
caste professionally because he can produce a 
design correct in drawing, and, if occasion re- 
quires, within given dimensions. 

It is well to remember that a sharp distinc- 
tion must be made between mechanical or in- 
strumental drawing and free-hand drawing. 
One is as valuable as the other in its own place, 
and it is no more creditable to be an expert in 
free-hand than iu mechanical drawing. There 
are occasions when the free-hand drawing must 
be as accurate as the iustrumental drawing, 
although the quality of the required lines may 
be quite different in the two classes of work. 
Therefore inasmuch as accuracy must be ob- 
served when it is called for, the pupil should 
be required to know what it means and how to 
secure it if necessary, which is more frequent 
than the practice of some professional artists 
would seem to indicate. 

"We now come to our third division of the 
subject, free-hand drawing, which is the 
broadest and most practical for school instruc- 
tion and may be encouraged in the kindergarten 
as an aid to illustrative drawing, the first sec- 
tion in our division of the subject. If the boy 
can draw the cube and cylinder of the second 
gift in perspective approximately correct, he 
has the fundamental experience for many of 
the forms in his future work, and with the 
addition of some of the fifth-gift forms very 
many of the principal outlines of architectural 
construction may be represented. The ac- . 

companying sketches suggest some of the ap- ^^S- 164. big. loo. 

plications of the gift-block foi-ms to nature all forms, natural and artificial, and their ap- 
drawino-. plication is of absorbing interest when traced 

Figs. 161-165 represent objects embodying through object and ornament, through archi- 
the spherical form ; Figs. 166-169 embody the teeture and painting, through snow-flake and 
form of the cube; F^gs. 170-177 illustrate crystal, flower and fruit, shell and insect, and 

* See "A First Year in Drawing." Henrj- Y. Bailey, Year Books of the Supervisors of the Manual Arts. 
1903-04. 




Fig. 162. 





184 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 




Fig. 171. 



Fig. 178. 



Fig. 179. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



185 



all higher forms of life. These should be illus- some ability at illustration ami free-hand draw- 

trated. Working drawings of cylinders and ing. One who has not experienced it cannot 

cubes are but the beginning ; they have new imagine the pleasure of being able, even though 

meauing when seen as the first types which pre- quite imperfectly, to make a hasty pencil sketch 




|,|,,,,,,,,,,,,,|,,,,|..,;||T!|]i!i^:iJ| 
Fig. 180. 




Fig. 184. 




Fio-. 181. 




Fig. 182. 





Fig. 185. 




Fig. 183. Fig. 186. 

figure the steam-cylinder, the railway car, the for future reference. A series of note sketch 

soldiers' monument and the mausoleum, the books kept for years becomes a constant source 

Tower of Pisa and the Grand Opera of Paris." of pleasure and there is a personahty in the 

No kindergartner can do her best until she has sketches which never can pertain to the results 

a. good knowledge of elementary geometry and of the snap-shot with the camera. 



THE ELEVENTH AND TWELFTH GIFTS.* 

MATERIAL FOR PERFORATING AND EINIBROIDERING.. 



It is claimed by us tliat all occupation ma- 
terial preseuted by Frcebel, iu the Gifts of the 
Kiudergaiten, are, in some respects, related to 
each other, complemeuting oue another. What 
logical connection is there between the occu- 
pation of perforating and embroidering, intro- 
duced with the present and the use of the pre- 
viously introduced Gifts of the Kindergarten? 
This question may be asked liy some superficial 
enquirer. Him we answer thus : In the first 
Gifts of the Kindergarten, the solid mass of 
bodies prevailed ; in the following ones the 
plane ; then the embodied line was followed by 



Steadiness of the eye and hand are the visibK 
results of the occupation which directly pre 
pares the pupil for various kinds of manual 
labor. The perforating, accompanied by the 
use of the needle and silk, or worsted, in the 
way embroidery is done, it is evident in what 
direction the faculty of the pupil may be 
developed. 

The method pursued with this occupation is 
analogous to that employed in the drawing de- 
partment Starting from the single point, the 
child is gradually led through all the various 
grades of difficulty ; and from step to step his 



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Fig. 1. 
the drawn line, and the occupation here intro- 
duced brings us down to the point. With the 
introduction of the perforating paper and prick- 
ing needle, we have descended to the umallest 
part of the whole — the extreme limit of mathe- 
matical divisibility ; and in a playing manner. 





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interest in the work will increase, especially as 
the child followed us unwittingly, on this, in an the various colors of the embroidered figures 
abstract sense, difficult journey. add much to their liveliness, as do the colored 



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Fig. 2. 
The material for these occupations is a piece 
of net paper, which is placed upon some layers 
of soft blotting papei'. The pricking or per- 
forating tool is a rather strong sewing needle, 



Fig. 6. 
The child first pricks vertical lines of two and 
three lengths, then of four and five lengths, 
(Figs. 2 andS). They are united to a triangle, 
opposites and fonns of mediation are found, 
and these again are united into squares with 
hollow and filled middle, (Figs. 4 and 5). The 
horizontal line follows, (Figs. 6-8), then the 



Fig. 3. Fig. 7. 

fastened in a holder so as to project about one combination of vertical and horizontal to a 

fourth of an inch. Aim of the occupation is right angle in its four oppositionally equal 

the production of the beautiful, not only by the positions, (Figs. 9-12). The combination of 

child's own acti\nty, but by his own invention, the four elements present a vast number of 

* These occupations are entirely omitted in many kindergartens because physicians have criticised them 
as injurious to the eye of the young child. Until after seven years of age the child's eye tends toward near- 
sightedness. If pricking and sewing are used at all, the child should be encouraged to look up often and so rest 
the eye from focussing too long on a point. The exercise should last for a few moments onlv. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



1S7 



small figures. If the external point of the 
angle of Figs. 9 and 10 touch one another, the 
cross (Fig. 13) is produced ; if the end points 
of the legs of these flgui'es touch, the square 
is made, (Fig. 14). Byrepeatedly uniting Figs. 
9 and 12, Fig. 15 is produced, and by the com- 
bination of all four angles. Figs. 16 and 17. 
According to the rules followed in laying fig- 



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In a similar way, the oblique line is now in- 
troduced and employed. The cliild priclis it 
in various directions, commencing with a one 
length line, (Figs. 32-35), combines it to 
angles, (Figs. 36-39), tlie combination of 
which will again result in many beautiful forms. 
Then follows the perforating of oblique lines 
of from two to five lengths, (a single length 
containing up to seven points), which are em- 
ployed for the representation of borders, cor- 
ner ornaments, etc., (Figs. 42-45, 61). The 
oblique of the second degree is also introduced, 
as shown in Figs. 46 and 47, and the peculiar 
formations in Figs. 48-51. 

Finally, the combination of the oblique with 
the vertical line, (Figs. 62 and 54), and with 
the horizontal, (Figs. 53 and 55), or with both 
at the same time, (Figs. 56-60), takes place. 



Fig. 9. Fig. 10. 
















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Fig. 14. 
irres with tablets of Gift Seven, and in draw- 
ing, or by a simple application of the law of 
opposites, the child will produce a large num- 
ber of other figures. 

The combination of lines of one and two 
lengths is then introduced, and standing and 
lying oblongs are formed, (Figs. 18 and 19), 
etc. The school of perforating, j)ec .'fe has to 
consider still simple squares and lying and 
standing oblongs, consisting of lines of from 
two to five lengths. In order not to repeat the 
same form too often, we introduce in Figs. 
21-31 a series less simple ; containing, how- 
ever, the fundamental forms, showing in the 
meantime the combination of lines of various 
dimensions. 



Fig. 17. 



Fig. 18. 






Fig. 19. Fig. 20. 

All these elements may be combined in the 
most manifold manner, and the inventive ac- 
ti^ity of the pupil will find a large field in pro- 
Some kindergarteners place paper on the sand table and let the children punch large holes with large 
nails, so as not to omit any of Froebel's occupations. It is certainly true that children enjoy punching holes 
in paper, but hygenic considerations come first. 



188 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 









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PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



189 



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190 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



ducing samples of borders, corner pieces, 
frames, reading marks, etc., etc. 

When it is intended to produce anything of 
a more complicated nature, the pattern should 
be drafted by pupil or teacher upon the net 
paper previous to pricking. In such cases, it 
ia advisable and productive of pleasure to the 
pupils, if beneath the perforating paper another 
one doubly folded is laid, to have the pattern 
transferred by perforation upon this paper in 
various copies. Such little productions may 












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EMBROIDERING, 

The same net paper which was used for exer- 
cises in perforating may be employed, by fill- 
ing out the intervals between the holes with 
threads of colored silk or worsted. It will be 
sufficient for this purpose to combine the points 
of one net square only, because otherwise the 
stitches would become too short to be made 
with the embroidery needle in the hands of 
children yet unskilled. For work, to be pre- 
pared for a special purpose,the perforated pat- 
ern should be transferred upon stiff paper or 
bristol-board. 



Fig. 60. 
be used for various purposes, and be presented 
by the children to their friends on many oc- 
casions. To assist the pupils in this respect, 
it is recommended that simple drawings be 
placed in the hands of the pupils, which, owing 
to their little ability, they certainly could not 
yet produce by drawing, but which they can 
well trace with their perforating tool. These 




Fig. 02. Fig. 63. 

Course of instruction just the same as with 
perforating. 

Experience will show that of the figures 
given, some are more fit for perforating, others 
better adapted for embroidering. Either occu- 
pation leads to peculiar results. Figures in 
which strongly rounded lines predominate may 



Fig. 61. 
drawings should represent objects from the ani- 
mal and vegetable kingdoms, and may thus 
be of great ser^^ce to the mental development 
of the children. The slowly and carefully per- 
forated forms and figures will undoubtedly be 
more lastingly impressed upon the mind and 
longer retained by the memory, than if they 
were only described or hurriedly looked at. It 
should be mentioned that the eml)roidering 
does not begin simultaneously with the perfo- 
rating, but only after the children have ac- 
quired considerable skill in the last named oc- 
cupation. For purposes of 




Fig. 64. 
be easily perforated, but with diffieultj', or not 
at all be embroidered. By the process of em- 
broidering, however, plain forms, as stars, and 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



191 



rosettes, are easily produced, which could 
hardl}' be represented, or, at best, very imper- 
fectly only, bj' the perforating needle. Figs. 
62-67, are examples of this kind. 

To develop the sense of color in the chil- 
dren, the ]3aper on which they embroider 
should be of all the various shades and hues, 




means of education — and in Froebel's insti- 
tution it occupies a prominent place — it should 
approach the child in various ways ; not only 
inform, but in color, ami tone also. To insui'e 




Fig. 66. 
the desired result in this direction, we begin in 
the Kindergarten, where we can much more 
readily make impressions upon the blank mind 
of children, than at a later period when other 
iuflueiices have polluted their tastes. 



Fig. 65. 
through the whole scale of colors. If the 
paper is gray, blue, black, or green, let the 
worsted or silk he of a rose color, white, or- 
ange or red, and if the pupil is far enough ad- 
vanced to represent objects of nature, as fruit, 
leaves, plants, or animals, it will be very 
proper to use in embroidering, the colors shown 
ijy these natural objects. Much can thereby be 
accomplished toward an early development of 
appreciation and knowledge of color, in which 
grown people in all countries are often sadly 
deficient. It has appeared to some, as if this 
occupation is less useful than pleasurable. Let 
them consider that the ordinary seeing of ob- 
jects already' is a difficult matter, nay, really 
an art, needing long practice. Much more 
difficult and requiring much more careful exer- 
cise, is a true and correct perception of color. 
If the beautiful is introduced at all as a 




Fig. 67. 

For this reason, we go still another step 
further, and give the more developed pupil a 
box of colors, showing him their use, in cover- 
ing the perforated outlines of ol)jects with the 
paint. Children like to occupy themselves in 
this manner, and show an increased interest, if 
they first produce the drawing and are subse- 
quentl}' allowed to use the brush for fm-ther 
beautif j'ing their work. 

The perforating and embroidering are begun 
■with the children in the Kiudergaiten when they 
have become sufficiently prepared for the per- 
fection of forms by the use of their building 
blocks and sticks. 



EDITOR'S NOTES. 

A PORTION of the foregoing chapter on per- very close together, some partially and others 

forating and embroidery as originally' printed entirely through the card, so as to produce on 

has been omitted from this edition, because it the opposite side a design in relief. This line 

treated of a class of "perforating" which is not of work has been quite generally discarded by 

at present considered desirable. In this occu- the leading kiudergartuers of this countrv, be- 

pation a multitude of perforations are made cause thej' believe that it is neither safe nor 



192 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



profitable. In the same general class may be 
included the perforating of outlines by making 
a succession of holes very close together with- 
out the intention of subsequent sewing ; and 
also such designs for sewing as involve intri- 
cate patterns with very short stitches. Neither 
is the pricking of holes with exactness at the 
printed dots or at the crossing of lines on net- 
ted paper believed to be good practice for 
small fingers and young eyes, and when many 
of these are quite near together tiie whole oc- 
cupation is not to be encouraged. On the 
other hand such condemnation of cardboard 
sewing of all kinds for the children as has em- 
anated from some sources indicates a reac- 
tion as unreasonable as was the sanction of 
the most extreme practice of the raised sur- 
face perforating. 

But this criticism of flue perfor.ating has been 
of great value, because it has brought into gen- 
eral use for the youngest children a series of 
ready-pricked cards in simple designs with large 
holes, long stitches, and coarse needles and 
thread. For earliest sewing, such designs on 
small cards not more than four by five inches 
in size are most suitalde, and in order to se- 
cure holes lai'ge enough for the large needles and 
coarse thread required at this stage it seems 
quite desirable that each perforation be made 
by punching out a minute disk of tlie card, thus 
producing a smooth, round hole of suitable size 
to be easily seen on both sides of the card and 
to receive the thread without wear and unnec- 
essary friction. 

The following tigures represent a series of such 
cards, which are technically called "Perfor- 
ated Cards, "in distinction from Pricked Cards, 
which are punctured with pointed needles. 
These cards retain their numbers as found in the 
catalogue of liradlcy's kindergarten material . 






2 3 
1 



I I 






mm 
ram 



BB 
BB 



13 



U 



15 



DDDD 
DDDD 



v///// 



\\\\\\\ 
\\\\\\\ 
\\\\\\\ 



16 



17 



IS 







0000 
0000 



19 20 21 

Nos. 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, etc., to 21, show the 
principal or first intention of the several ar- 
rangements of holes in these cards, and la, 
lb, Ic, 2a, 2b, 2e, etc., represent some of the 
modifications or inventions which may lie sewed 
with the cards. 






lb 





Id 







2b 




10 



11 



12 



3a 




PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



193 



10a 



1.5b 




16b 




17c 




18o 







10b 



12a 





S0 



13c 











K 


y 


'x.x*-/ 













14c 



loa 











-^ 


>c^ 


i-- 




k 





15c 



l(i:i 



\\\\\\\ 
\\\\\\\ 

\\\\\\\ 




17a 



17b 



/////// 
/////// 
/////// 




ISa 



18b 





MM 
MM 




11a 


□ \Z3 


nn nn 


□ CD 



mm 
mm 



19a 



19b 



^M 




20a 20b 2lu 

As perforated holes are alike on both sides 
of the card one arrangement of holes will often 
make right and left-handed designs by revers- 
ing the card. 

Owing to the methods involved in the manu- 
facture of the "perforateil cards" the ordinary 
'•pricked cards" can be made in a greater va- 
riety of patterns, and for children other than 
the youngest in the kindergai-teu they are more 
interesting and can be sewed by them without 
diffleulty with the finer needle and thread. 

The following figures illustrate a selection 
from a much greater variety now in the market. 



IIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 
llllllllllllllllllllllll 
llllllllllllllllllllllll 
IIIUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 

MiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiM 

llllllllllllllllllllll 

3 hiiiiniiiiiliiniiiii 



Hi! 



rrri — ^nnn 
rrri — ii-n 
rrri — \-\-\-i 
lull jjjj 

ll li ijjj 

^^l££jjj^ 



DDnnananD 
DDDDananD 

DDDDDDDDn 

DnQDanann 

□DDDDaCDD 
JignDDDODD 



DDDOnODDDDDOO 
DOOQDODDDDDOO 
DDDODDDODDODD 
DOCOODODDDDOD 
DODDDDOODDODD 
iuHPDODDODDDD 
41ODDIIOQDOO 



/9 



Q □ oaaa 
o □ OQac 
as 113 cjc^aa 
c] □ C3 cz) a o 

a 1=1 oa □□ 
a C3 C3C3 aa 
Q o □ CDao 
□ DO 
a aa 



C30C 
c3oc: 



m 



a oc 



//////////// 



iM> 




^Mm^ 





^^i^i^:^^ 



xxxxxxxxx 

xxxxxxxxx 
xxxxxxxxx 
xxxxxxxxx 

jCXKXXXXXX 
-JiL^XXXXXXX 
37 X X X X X X X 



* * X 5K X )* 

« « * « * )K SIS 

SK * SK X * X 

_*,* * * « * 



iiiimiiiiniiiiiiiiiini 

Ull/ll/llll/llllllllll/ll 

lllllllllllllllll/IIIIJI/l 
IIIIII/IIIIIIIII/I//IJIIII 
iiiUNi/iiiiiiiii//miii 

26 \"iiiiiiii'ii>im/ii 



wwwwwwwwwwwww 

wwwwwwwwwwwww 
wwwwwwwwwwwww 
wwwwwwwwwwwww 
_im,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 
27}w\\\\w\\\\\\\\\\\ 




/VVyyw^Avv^\^ 
/vwywvvvv\^A 

/yW>AAAAA/W\A 



X X X X X X X x X X X X X 


xxxxxxxxxxxxx 


xxxxxxxxxxxxx 


xxxxxxxxxxxxx 


xxxxxxxxxxxxx 


-XJ-XXXXXXXXXXX 

3^pxxxxxxxxx 



000000000 

000000000 

000000000 

^0000000 



194 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



25^^^^ 



^^^ 





47\ 



ooooo 


ooooo 


ooooo 


ooooo 


oo-ooo- 


-£^0000 


^g o-ooo 



4" A 4 









ooooo 
^ 



For still older cbildren a moderate amount 
of perforating Tvith the pricking needle at dots 
on a printed outline is not only harmless but 
fascinating in a marked degree. 

In this class of work a much ■nider range of 
oesigns extending into life forms can be intro- 
duced, because of the difference in process in 
the nianufaetiu'e of cards which are for sale 
for this purjwse. 








PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



195 



Also iu this work original designs may be of the grade of work to the age and condition 
prepared by the teacher or even by the pupils as of each child mnst be left to the judgment of 



they may be traced from prints and transferred 
to cards by the use of impression paper. 

The foregoing figures show examples of this 
class of designs. 

In cardboard pricking and sewing as in all 
other kindergarten occupations the adjustment 

elemp:xtary color teaching 



the trained kiudergartner, and fortunatelj- this 
may safely be trusted to the corps of compe- 
tent teachers now in the work and to those be- 
ing prepared by the nonual kindergarten 
schools in this country. 



The educational phase of color has assumed 
such importance within the past decade that it 
must receive more than passing notice iu any 
treatise on the kindergarten gifts and occupa- 
tions, taken as a whole. As the color ques- 
tion presents itself quite prominently in the 
selection of the threads for embroidering and 
still more iu the use of colored papers, the 
editor feels that this is the proper place to 
introduce certain special suggestions on that 
subject. 

There is a fascination about the study of 
color which Increases as we become more and 
more familiar with the subject. AVe meet it at 
every turu in the natural world. It makes the 
loftiest hilltops radiant in early morning and 
paints its hues in wondrous Ijrilliancy on the 
evening sky. 

Art revels in color, and praise as we may 
the chisel of the sculptor and the cunning of 
the engraver, we find only cool comfort in 
colorless art. Consequently we are always 
seeking the best color effects. We want them 
in the arrangement of our lawns, the decora- 
tion of our houses, both within and without, 
iu our clothing, in public and private, wher- 
ever we admit color. Indeed a knowledge of 
color and its skillful use iu all the affairs of 
life ministers more eft'ectively to our best equip- 
ment and our enjoyment than does a knowl- 
edge of form. Nevertheless all attempts to 
place color study on a practical footing have 
failed until recently, because of the universal 
opinion among artists that art in color would 
be degraded by contact with scientific truths. 

And yet from Euclid down to the present 
generation of students the mathematicians have 
been occupied in discovering and perfecting 
instruments and a language of form by which 
the graceful outlines of architecture and orna- 
ment may be analyzed and recorded. But those 
who have labored in the kingdom of color have 
found it as impossible to accurately describe 
any given hue or tone of color in an accepted 



nomenclature as it was when the Queen of 
Sheba brought her roj-al gifts to Solomon. 
When Froebel prepared his material for the 
kindergarten, color was for the first time in- 
troduced into a system of elementary instruc- 
tion disconnected from drawing and painting, 
and it is worthy of note that the only system 
by which colors can now be intelligenth' desig- 
nated without actual samples was originated 
and developed in response to the demands of the 
kiudergartners of America for better material. 

In the kindergarten material first imported 
from Germany to the United States the first- 
gift balls were fairly good examples of red, 
orange, yellow, green, blue and purple or vio- 
let. But tlie colored papers used in the occu- 
pation material of that time were selected with- 
out order, scientific knowledge or fine color 
perceptions. The result was that the Ameri- 
can kiudergartners began to complain of the 
colors found in the papers and to suggest 
other colors either in addition to those in 
use or iu place of them. While many colors 
already in tlie market were added and some 
made to order in response to such criticisms 
and requests, no material advance was made 
in producing a logical assortment of colors in 
the i)apers for a number of years. But the 
difficulties thus ea.v\y encountered induced the 
editor of these notes to begin a series of 
experiments which has resulted, by the aid and 
cordial co-operation of many of his friends 
among scientists, artists and kiudergartners, 
in the scheme of color instruction now known 
as the Bradley System of Color Education. 
As this is quite fully set forth in other publi- 
cations it is unnecessary to use sufficient space 
here to explain it iu detail, and therefore only 
a brief outline of the fundamental principles 
on which it is based is presented. 

In form, the constant companion of color 
iu material ol)jects, we have the foot or me- 
ter by which we measure lengths and breadths, 
and the divided circle by which the directions 



196 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



of lines may be noted, and with these two ac- 
cepted standards of measurements all surfaces 
and solids can be described. If all material 
forms were destroyed to-day any one of them 
could be reconstructed from suitable records 
preserved in terms of these standards, lint this 
has not been true regarding color, because of the 
lack of standards and means for measuring and 
recording color effects. In the solar spectrum 
we have the only known source to which we may 
look for permanent standards of color. In 
music we have certain standards of tones and a 
language accepted by general agreement which 
render it possible to transmit musical composi- 
tions from one country to another and from 
generation to generation. Every tone produced 
by a musical instrument is due to a given num- 
ber of vibrations or waves in some substance, 
which ■\-ibrations are ordinarily conveyed to the 
ear by waves in the air ; and by a record of 
these tones in terms of tlieir vibrations musical 
compositions are transmitted from age to age. 

It is supposed that light and color are trans- 
mitted by viln'ations or waves in an unknown 
something which we call ether and that differ- 
ent wave lengths produce various etfects in 
the eye whicli are conveyed to the brain as 
colors. Therefore when we select in the solar 
spectrum certain standards of color and de- 
termine the wave length of each, we have a 
series of definitely located "Spectrum Stand- 
ards " which are absolutely permanent. If we 
then produce the best possible imitation of 
these colors in pigments or other substances, 
we shall have standard Material Colors. The 
Material Colors will be very inferior to the 
Spectrum Colors in purity and brilliancy, but 
if they are to be used as standards each must 
be the same kind of color as the Spectrum 
Color which it represents ; for instance, the 
" orange " must be neither more red nor more 
yellow than the location in the spectrum which 
has been accepted as the standard orange. 
The training and habits of a good kindergart- 
ner will especially enable her to appreciate 
this necessity for exact standards in a color 
nomenclature as much as in form study. 

For example, the third-gift cube is a solid 
which has six plane faces, each of which is a 
quadrilateral having four right angles and four 
straight sides, each one inch long. Therefore 
a somewhat similar solid in which the angles 
are not right angles and the sides are unequal 



is not a cube. So it is necessary that there be 
definite terms regarding color in which accu- 
rate statements can be made and recorded 
before there can l)e any language on which to 
base intelligent discussion regarding the ques- 
tions involved in the consideration of color 
and its best uses. The Bradley Color Scheme 
is based on the determination of these stand- 
ards in the solar spectruni and the best mate- 
rial imitations of them to serve as Pigmentary 
Standards. 

Having selected these pigmentary or mate- 
rial standards there must be secured some 
means by which they can be combined in defi- 
nitely expressed proportions to produce all 
other colors, so that we may have an exact 
but simple and easily-understood nomencla- 
ture. There is but one de^•ice known at 
present which fulfills these conditions, and 
that is the " Maxwell Disks." If a live coal 
on the end of a stick is rapidly whirled in a 
circle, a ring of light is seen, because the 
light-impression which is made on the retina 
of the eye remains fixed while the stick is 
moving through an entire circle. On this 
principle, if a disk of cardboard is divided by 
a diameter and one of the semi-circles covered 
with white paper and the other with black 
paper, and the disk rapidly whirled on a pin at 
its center, the two half circles will no longer 
appear as distinctively white and black, but 
the whole surface will assume a uniform gray 
color. If the amount of white surface is in- 
creased to three quurters of the whole the 
gray will be much lighter, and if the black 
is increased the resulting color will he darker. 
So, also, if instead of the white and black 
semi-circles two standard colors, as red and 
orange, are combined in the same way, a 
new color between red and orange will result. 

As it is quite inconvenient to paste up a col- 
ored disk for each experiment, a celebrated 
English scientist named Maxwell conceived 
the idea of slitting each of two disks, from 
circumference to center, so that they could 
be joined, and by a movement on each other 
around the common center made to show any 
required amount of the surface of each. If 
two disks are joined in this way and laid on 
to a slightly-larger disk which is divided at 
the circumference into one hundred parts the 
amount of surface of each color which is ex- 
posed may be measured and recorded. Thus 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



197 



if the red aud orange disks are joined so as to 
show three quarters red and one quarter 
orange, the color resulting by rotation would 
be recorded as Red 75, Orange 25, or using 
the initials of the colors, R. 75, O. 25, 
which becomes the definite symbol of that par- 
ticular orange hue of red. This brief expla- 
nation may serve to convey an idea of the 
scope of such a system of color study. 

On this scientific foundation a line of colored 
papers has beea prepared for the kindergarten. 
In the spectrum colors of the educational 
papers two hues between each two standards 
are provided, making eighteen of these full 
spectrum colors. If a color is in strong sun- 
light it becomes much lighter and is a tint of 
the color ; if in shadow it is darker and is 
called a shade. These two effects may be 
secured with the rotating disks by using a white 
disk with the color disk for the tints, and a 
black disk with the color for the shades. 

Thus these papers furnish a systematic line 
of scales or families of colors for color instruc- 
tion. A line of grays and another of broken 
or gray colors is added, so that there is no 
reasonable demand in primary education for 
other colors in papers. For class instruction 
the color wheel or color mixer is very valualile, 
but if such apparatus is not available a sim- 
ple modification of the larger apparatus in the 
form of a color-top furnishes much instruction 
and amusement. 

Some educators who have not fully under- 
stood this sul>ject have believed that the color- 
wheel and color top are too advanced in 
scientific principles to be profitable in the 
primary school grades, and necessarily frfun 
the same standpoint much less useful in the 
kindergarten. But actual test is better than 
theories, and a large number of kindergart- 
ners are already prepared to certify to the 
great value of the color wheel and color tops 
in their work. The following is but a simple 
illustration of many lines in which color in- 
struction can be imparted and color interest 
excited. In one of our large public kinder- 
gartens, as the teacher entered the room one 
morning, she saw an admiring group of chil- 
dren gathered around Bessie, whom she noticed 
had on a new dress. As the kindei'gartner 
approached, one child exclaimed excitedly, 
" See what a pretty dress Bessie has on. 
What color is it?" After various guesses, 



man}' of which were somewhat wild, as it was 
early in the year, some one made a reasonably 
good guess, and the teacher said, " Let us see 
what the color-wheel says. If Bessie will come 
aud stand by it we will see if we can make a 
color like her dress by whirling the color 
disks." 

The children were interested at once, 
and as Bessie stood by the color wheel, they 
were allowed to suggest their objections to 
the color made by the rotating disks. Mary 
said that it was too blue, and after a change 
had been made, Willie thought it was too 
green ; but at last a good result was obtained, 
as the happy exclamations of the little ones 
testified, and as the disks ceased rotating a 
complete chart of the true color was before the 
children. If a color wheel is not available 
the same exercises may be tried with a color 
top. 

In many of the gifts and occupations of the 
kindergarten, color is prominent, but it is 
specially so in all the work in papers. If col- 
ored papers are to be used they should not 
only be selected so as to do no harm, but the 
Modern Educational Colored Papers may be so 
used as to afford much instruction at the same 
time that manual exercises are being enjoyed. 

With colored papers, in the established 
standards and their modifications in (heir hues 
and tones, the kindergartners and primary 
school teachers are well equipped for color 
teaching, but with the addition of a color wheel 
or color mixer and a few color charts, which 
can be made from the paper at small cost, 
color teaching becomes simply a recreation to 
both teacher and pupils. The fact that there 
is so much color material used in the kinder- 
garten insures constant attention on the part 
of the children, and where there is interested 
attention there is rapid advance, so a child 
that has had two years in a true kinder- 
garten and one year in a connecting school 
will require very little more of colored papers, 
blocks and sticks of any kind, but will be amply 
able to proceed with the more abstract consid- 
eration of subjects brought to his attention. 
It is not expedient to present the subject of 
color teaching in detail within the reasonable 
limits of this book, and hence the editor ven- 
tures to note the contents of two books which 
he has prepared to explain his system of color 
instruction. 



198 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



"Color in the Kindergarten," is a book 
of about sixty pages in paper covers which 
gives a somewhat detailed statement of the 
subject, under two principal heads : First, 
"The Theory of Color," and second, "Color 
Materials in the Kindergarten." In the first 
of these divisions the following sub-heads 
occur : The Tbeory of Sir Uavid Brewster ; 
The Young-He Imholtz Theory; The Stand- 
ards must lie Chosen from the Solar Spec- 
trum ; The Use of the Color Wheel; The 
Old Theories Tested l)y the "Wheel ; Concern- 
ing the Comi)lementary Colors ; How to Secure 
a Color Nomenclature ; Tints and Shades ; 
Scales of Color ; Classification of Harmonies ; 
Broken Colors ; The So-called Tertiary Colors ; 
How the Grays are Classified ; Simultaneous 
Contrast ; A Review of the Bradley Color 
Scheme ; Some Color Definitions. The second 
section, Color Material, contains tlie following 
divisions : The Prismatic Spectrum ; The Col- 
ored Papers ; The Rainy Day Spectrum ; Value 
of the Color Wheel ; Spectrum Hues ; Tints and 
Shades of Hues ; The First Gift ; Sewing ; 
Weaving ; Intertwining ; Parquetry ; Paper 
Cutting ; Paper Folding ; Concerning Water 
Colors ; Color Blindness. 

A book entitled " Elementary Color " con- 
tains one hundred and thirty pages freely illus- 
trated and a miniature color chart in pasted 
papers showing " Pure Spectrum Scales " and 
"Broken Spectrum Scales." This has an 
introduction by Prof. Henry Lefavour of AVil- 
liams College and completely sets forth the 



Bradley system of color instruction under the 
following principal heads : The Theory of 
Coloi- ; Color Definitions ; Practical Experi- 
ments Illustrating the Theorj' of Color ; Color 
Teaching in the Schoolroom ; Outline of Course 
in Color Instruction. 

Under this last head the following divisions 
are very briefly treated : The Solar Spectrum ; 
Pigmentary vSpectrum Colors ; Study of 
Tones ; Broken Colors ; Complete Chart of 
Pure Spectrum Scales in Five Tones ; Ad- 
vanced Study of Harmonies. 

This sytem of color instruction has been 
criticised as mechanical, scientific and inartistic 
by many artists of reputation who seem to agree 
that because definite formulas cannot be given 
for producing works of the highest rank in art 
all standards and facts regarding color are de- 
l)asing to the artistic instincts. If this claim 
is admitted to be sound in regard to color may 
we not also urge that the study of geometry 
is to be ignored liecause of its degrading effect 
on art in form, and that English grammar is 
out of date because it is not especially condu- 
cive to highest flights in poetry? But it is 
the belief of one who has known the kinder- 
gartners of America intimately for a quarter 
of a century that they will not disparage the 
value of the exact and methodical elements 
that are introduced l)y this color scheme into 
a most important feature of elementary work, 
in place of the entirely indefinite methods of 
the past. 



See additional chapter on Color, page 32. 



THE THIRTEENTH GIFT.* 

MATERIAL FOR CUTTING PAPKR AND MOUNTING PIECES TO PRODUCE 

FIGURES AND FORMS. 



The labor, or occupation alphabet presented the child produces, by cutting according to 

by Froebel in his system of education, cannot certain laws, highly interesting and beautiful 

spare the occupation, now introduced — the cut- fonns, their desire of destroying with the scis- 

ting of paper — the transunitation of the ma- sors will soon die out, and they, as well as 

terial by division of its parts, notn-ithstand- their parents, will be spared many an unpleas- 



ing the many apparently well-founded doubts, 
whether scissors should be placed in the hands 
of the child at such an early age. It will 
be well for such doubters to consider : Firstly, 
that tiie scissors which the chikkeu use 
have no shai-p points, but are rounded at 
their ends, by which the possibilities of doing 
harm with them are greatly reduced. Second!}', 
it is expected that the teacher employs all pos- 
sible means to watch and superintend the chil- 
dren with the utmost care during their occu- 
pation with the scissors. Thirdly, as it can 
never be prevented, that, at least, at times 



ant experience, incident upon this childish in- 
stinct, if it were left entirely unguided. 




Fi2. 



Fig. 8. 





Fig. 9. Fig. 10. 

As material for the cutting, we employ a 
square piece of paper of the size of one-six- 
teenth sheet, similar to the folding sheet. Such 
a sheet is broken diagonally, the right acute 
angle placed upon the left, so as to produce 
four triangles resting one upon another. Re- 
peating the same proceeding, so that by so do- 
ing the two upper triangles will be folded up- 
wards, the lower ones downwards in the halv- 
ing line, eight triangles resting one upon an- 
other, will be produced, which we use as our 




Fig. 5. Fig. 6. 

scissors, knives and similar dai:igerous objects 
may fall into the hands of children, it is of 
great importance to accustom them to such, 
by a regular course of instruction in their use, 
which, it may be expected, ^-ill certainly do 
something to prevent them from illegitimately 
applying them for mischievous purposes. 
By placing material before them from which 

* Many of the patterns given in this chapter should be reserved for primarj- grades if used at all. The 
mounting of such tiny pieces is vers' fatiguing and ner.'ous work for the children. See chapter on Free Cutting 
in present edition and plates showing children's work of the present day. The old plates are retained to show 
the extremes to which mounting ha-s been carried in the past. 



Fig. 13. Fig. 14. 

first fundamental form. TTiis fundamental 
form is held, in all exercises, so that the open 



200 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



side, vjhere no plane connects ivith another is al- 
tvays turned toward the left. 

In order to accomplish a sufficient exactness 
in cutting, tlie uppermost triangle contains, 
(or if it does not, is to be provided witli) a 
kind of net as a guide in cutting. Dotted 
lines on the figures indicate this net work. 



The following selection presents, almost al- 
ways, two opposites and their combination, or 
leaves out one of the former, as is the case 
with the horizontal cut, wherever it docs not 
produce anything essentially new. 




J — ..-1.-- .--. 



yj i T 




~\ 


ATn 




\ N 




Fiij. 



Fig. 26. 



Fig. 15. 



Fis;. 16. 






\ 


\ 




, i :N- 




Fig. 17. 



Fig. 18. 



Fig. 27. Fig. 28. 

((. Vertical cuts, Figs. 2, 3, 4-5, 6, 7. 
/(. Horizontal cuts. Figs. 8, 9 — (above, 
and below) . 

c. Vertical and horizontal. Figs. 18, 19, 
20—21, 22, 23. 

d. Obhque cuts. Figs. 34, 35—36, 37, 38. 

e. Obhque and vertical. Figs. 51, 52, 53, 
—54, 55, 56,-58, 59, 60. 




Fig. 21. Fig. 22. 

The activity itself is regulated according to 
the law of opposites. "We commence with the 
vertical cut, come to its opposite, the horizon- 
tal and Anally to the mediation of both, the 
oblique. 



Fig. 31. 



Fig. 32. 




Fig. 23. Fig. 24. 

Figs. 1-132 indicate the abundance of cuts 
which may be developed according to this 
method, and it is ad^^sable to arrange for the 
child a selection of the simpler elements into a 
school of cutting. 



F"ig. 33. Fig. 34. 

/. Oblique and horizontal. Figs. 65, 66, 67. 

g. Half oblong cuts, where the diagonals 
of standing and lying obiongs, formed of two 
net squares serve as guides — Figs. 117, 118, 
119—121, 122, 123—125, 126, 127. 

Here ends the school of cutting, per se, for 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



201 



the first fundamental form, the right-angled 
triangle. The given elements may be com- 
bined in the most manifold manner, as this 
has been sufficiently carried out in the forms 
given. 

The fundamental form used for Figs. 133- 
167 is a sixfold equilateral triangle. It also is 



and patterns from Figs. 133-145, will suffice 
for this purpose. The same fundamental form 
is used for practicing and performing the cir- 
cular cuts, although the right angular funda- 




Fig. 35. 





Fig. 37. Fig. 38. 

produced from the folding sheet, by breaking 
it diagonally, hahiug the middle of the diag- 
onal, dividing again iu three equal parts the Fior. 47. 
angle situated on this point of hahing. The 
angles thus produced will be angles of sixty 
degrees. The leaf is folded iu the legs of these 
angles liy bending the one acute angle of the 
original triangle upwards, the other downwards. 
By cutting the protruding corners, we shall 
have the desired form of the six fold equilateral Fig. 49. 
triangle, in which the entirely open side serves 



Fig. 48. 




Fig. 50. 




Fig. 39. 



Fig. 40. 




Fig. 41. Fig. 42. 

as basis of the triangle. The net for guidance 
is formed by di%'ision of each side in four equal 
parts, uniting the points of division of the base, 
by parallel lines with the sides, and drawing of 
a vertical from the upper point of the triangle 
upon its base. It is the oblique line, particu- 
larly which is introduced here. The designs 



Fig. 51. Fig. 52. 

mental form may be used for the same purpose. 
Both find their application subsequently, in a 
sphere of development only, after the child by 
means of the use of the half and whole rings, 
and drawing, has become more familiar with 
the curved line. These exercises require great 
facility in handling the scissors besides, and 
are, therefore, onlj- to be inti-oduced with chil- 
dren who have been occupied in this depart- 
ment quite a while. For such it is a capital 
employment, and they will find a rich field for 
operation, and produce many an interest- 
ing and beautiful form in connection with it. 
The course of development is indicated in 
Fiss. 163-167. 



202 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 




j^. . L - - ]- . 


k 



Fig. 63. 



Fig. 54. 




Fig. 55. 



Fia,-. 56. 




Fig. 57. 



Fig. 5S. 



Fig. 59. 



Fig. fiO. 




Fig. 61. 



Fig. 62. 



Fig. 63. 



Fig. 64. 




Fig. 65. 



Fig. 66. 



Fig. 67. 



Fig. 68. 




Fig. 69. 



Fig. 70. 



Fig. 71. 



Fig. 72. 




Fig. 73. 



Fig. 74. 



Fig. 75. 



Fig. 7i;. 




Fig. 77. 



Fig. 78. 



Fig. 79. 



Fig. 80. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



203 




Fig. 81. 



Fig. 82. 



Fig. 83. 



Fig. 84. 




Fis. 89. 



Fig. 90. 



Fig. 91. 



Fig. 92. 




Fig. 93. 



Fig. 94. 



Fig. 95. 



Fig. 96. 




Fig. 97. 



Fig. 98. 



Fig. 99. 



Fig. 100. 




Fig. 101. 



Fig. 102. 



Fig. 103. 



Fig. 104. 




Fig. 105. 



Fig. 106. 



Fig. 107. 



Fig. 108. 



204 



GOLDExV JUBILEE EDITION. 




Fig. 109. 



Fiff. 110. 



Fig. 111. 



Fig. 112. 




Fig. 113. 



Fig. 114. 



Fig. 115. 



Fig. 116. 




Fig. 121. 



Fig. 122. 



Fig. 123. 



Fig. 124. 




Fig. 125. 



Fig. 12(1. 



Fig. 127. 



Fig. 128. 




Fig. 12.<-'. 



Fig. 130. 



Fig. lol. 



Fig. 132. 




Fig. 133. 



Fig. 134. Fig. 135. 



Fig. 136. 



Fig. 137. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



205 




Fig. 138. 



Fisf. 139. 



Fiar. 140. 



Fisr. 141. 



Fiff. 142. 




Fig. 143. 



Fig. 144. 



Fiar. 145. 



Ficr. 146. 



Fig. 147. 




Fig. 148. 



Fig. 149. 



Fig. 150. 



Fig. 151. 



Fig. 152. 




Fig. 153. 



Fig. 154. 



Fig. 155. 



Fig. 156. 



Fig. 157. 




Fig. 158. 



Fig. 159 



Fig. 160. 



Fig. 161. 



Fig. 162. 




Fig. 163. 



Fig. 164. 



Fig. 165. 



Fig. 166. 



Fig. 167. 



206 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



After tlie cliilil Ims been sufficiently intro- 
duced into the cutting school, iu the manner 
indicated, after his fantasy has found a defi- 
nite guidance in the ever-repeated application of 
the law, which protects him against unbounded 
option and choice, it will be au easy task to 
him, and a profitable one to pass over to free 
invention, and to find in it a fountain of enjoy- 
ment, ever new, and inexhaustibly overflowing. 
To let the child, entirely without a guide, be the 
master of his own free will, and to keep all dis- 
cipline out of his way, is one of the most dan- 
gerous and most foolish principles to which a 
misunderstood love of children, alone could 
bring us. This absolute freedom condemns the 
children, too soon, to the most insupportable 
annoj'auce. All that is in the child should be 
brought out, by means of external infiuence. 
To limit this influence as much as possible is 
not to suspend it. Frojbel has limited it, in a 
most admirable way by placing this guidance 
into the child as early as possible ; that from 
one single incitement issues a mxmber of 
others, within tlie child, by accustoming him 
to a lawful and regulated acti\'ity from his 
earliest youth. 

"With the first vertical cut, which we made 
into the sheet, (Fig. 1), the whole course of 
development, as indicated in the series of flg- 
m-es up to Fig. 132 is given, and all subse- 
quent inventions are but simple, natural com- 
binations of the element presented in the 
'■'■school." Thus a logical connection prevails 
in these formations, as among all other means 
of education, hardly any but mathematics 
may afford. 

Whereas, the activity of the cutting itself, 
and the logical progress in it produces a most 
beneficial influence upon the intellect of the 
pupil, the results of it will awaken his sense 
of beauty, his taste for the symmetrical, and 
his appreciation of harmony in no less degree. 
The simplest cut already yields an abundance 
of various figures. If we make as in Fig. 5, 
two vertical cuts, and unfold all single parts 
we shall have a square with hollow middle, a 
small square, and finally the frame of a square. 
If we cut according to Fig. 6, we produce a 
large octagon, four small triangles, four strips 
of paper of a trapezimn form, nine figures 
altogether. 

All these parts are now symmetrically ar- 
ranged according to the law : union of opposites 



— here effected by the position or direction of 
the parts relative to the center — and after they 
have been arranged in this manner, the pupils 
will often express the desire to preserve them 
in this arrangement. This natural desire finds 
its gratification by 

MOUNTING THE FIGURES. 

As separation always requires its opposite, 
uniting, so the cutting requires mounting. 
The following figures present examples of the 
manner iu which the cutting is mounted : Fig. 
5 a is Fig. 6 cut and mounted ; Fig. 9 a cor- 
responds to Fig. 9, and so on. With the 
simpler cuts, the chppings should be used, but 




a a 



Fig. 5 a. Fig. 'J a. 

if a main figure is complete and synnnetrical 
in itself, the addition of the clii>piugs would 
not be necessary. 

This occupation also, can lie made sub- 
servient to influence the intellectual develop- 
ment of the child by requiring him to point out 
different ways in which these forma may be ar- 
ranged and put together, (Fig. 37 o). 



♦ ♦ 




Fig. 12 «. Fig. 20 «. 

In order to increase the interest of the chil- 
dren, to give a larger scope to their inventive 
power, and at the same time, to satisfy their 
taste and sense of color, they may have paper 
of various colors and be allowed to exchange 
their productions among one another. 

Both these occupations, cutting and mount- 
ing, are for the Kindergarten as well as higher 
grades of schools. For older pupils, the cut- 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



207 



f^^<ii!i> 



Fi<i. 37 a. 



Mr 



Fiff. 56 a. 





Fig. 71 a. 



Fig. 82 a. 




Fio;. 100 a. 








Fig. 129 a. 





Fiar. 132 a. 



Fig. 147 a. 



Fig. 108 a. 



Fig. 124 a. 




Fig. 163 a. 



Fig. 165 a. 



208 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



ting out of animals, plants and other fomis of and mounting the parts to figures, as inti'O. 



life will be of interest, and silhouettes even 
may be prepared by the most expert. 

It is evident that not only as a simple means 
of occupation for the children, during their 
early life, but as a preparation for many an 
occupation in real Mfe, the cutting of jiaper 

EDITOR'S NOTES 



duced here, are of undeniable benefit. 

The main object, however, is here, as in all 
other occupations in the Kindergarten, develop- 
ment of the sense of beauty, as a preparation 
for subsequent performance in and enjoyment 
of art. 



This occupation emphasizes color and de- 
velops the artistic sense of the child by the 
symmetrical forms which he produces in beauti- 
ful colors. For the first series of cuts the sis 
spectrum colors should be chosen, as a knowl- 
edge of pure colors and normal tones must pre- 
cede color combinations. 

The cutting may be given as a class exercise, 
the children doing the folding, cutting, arrang- 
ing and pasting all together. 

The square is taken as a basis for all the 
simplest designs, and out of it the child clips a 
house, barn, church, etc., with the conscious- 
ness of possessing a power over this little sheet 
of paper which is really creative and with which 
he is able to produce a great variety of forms 
and designs. The work requires accuracy and 
delicate handling, being easy or difficult accord- 
ing to the skill of the worker. 

Outlines of objects, animals, leaves, forms 
of Iteauty and geometric forms may be cut, by 
leading the child in logical succession from the 
vertical cut to the horizontal, and, after com- 
bining these two, proceeding to the oblique cut 
and its combinations, the cuts being made upon 
the square, equilateral triangle, oblong and 
circle. 

Beginning with the straight lines the child 
may gradually advance to intricate circular 
cuts, though the curved line should not be given 
until the child has gained dexterity in handling 
the scissors. 

On the plain, unruled paper the marking or 
folding should be on the upper triangle only ; 
the cutting througli them all. At first the line 
may be lightly traced with a pencil before cut- 
ting, but this practice should not continue long 
enough to make the child dependent upon it. 

For the sake of obtaining suflBcient accuracy 
in the cutting, the ruled cutting papers are 
manufactured, which have a network on the up- 
per triangle and are exactly in the line of Frcc- 
bel's method, because they assist the child to 



accurately draw from dictation his own patterns 
for cutting. 

Tlie child must 1ie led to free creation by 
first imitating, and when he learns obedience 
through dictation, and also gains in manual 
dexterity, after a few cuts inventions may be 
called for, each child being allowed to choose 
the form and color he prefers for his invention 
from among the forms previously made, thus 
encouraging his will-power in making a selec- 
tion and adding interest and variety to the oc- 
cupation. Sequences should be used in order 
to develop continuity of thought and to illus- 
trate the idea of growth, the value of the se- 
quence depending upon the form produced and 
upon the color used. 

When the forms are made they should be 
pasted on one side of the mounting sheet and 
the several sheets belonging to each child may 
be kept loose until the whole number is com- 
pleted and then put in book form. As only 
one design is seen at a time the standard colors 
may be used in succession ^\'ithout unpleasant 
effects. The same cut can be mounted in dif- 
ferent waj's and various results produced. A 
house with furnishings maj' be cut and many 
lessons in good housekeeping taught. Border 
patterns are easily cut. Delicate lace-like pat- 
terns make decorations for sachet bags, lamp 
screens, box covers, needle books or the lining 
for a box or basket. Cut upon larger squares 
they furnish pretty designs for outline stitch- 
ing or braiding. 

As this occupation is fully treated in books 
written on the subject, it is inexpedient to give 
in this connection more than a few hints as to 
its possibilities. 

"Paper and Scissors in the Schookoom," 
by Emily A. Weaver gives a practical and 
sj'stematic course in paper cutting and fold- 
ing, the third chapter being devoted to cut- 
ting the geometric figures and useful and orna- 
mental forms based on them. 



THE FOURTEENTH GIFT.* 
aiATERIAL FOR BRAIDING OR WEAVING. 



Braiding is a favorite occupation of chil- 
dren. The child instinctively, as it were, likes 
everything contributing to his mental and 
liodily development, and few occupations may 
claim to accomplish both, better than the oc- 
cupation now introduced. Even twelve to 
fourteen years old pupils often have to com- 
bine all their ingenuity and perseverance to 




means of affording perceptions of numerical 
conditions, so thorough, founded on indi^•idual 
experience and rendered more distinct by di- 
versity in form and color, than '■•braiding." 
The products of the child's activity, besides, 
are readily made useful in practical life, af- 
fording thereby capital opportunities for ex- 
pression of his love and gratitude, by presents 
prepared by his own hand. 

The material used for this occupation are 
sheets of paper cut into strips which are left 
joined at the ends, as shown in Fig. 1, and 
the braiding needle, as represented in Fig. 2. 





•■.■. 

.v. 


■f. 


•: 

• 


•: 


f 


:•: 






VMW'/ 




i 


^ 


? 


\ 


1 


^ 




IP: 


:■ 


:S 


S 


5 


i: 


5 


s 




■■»■■ 

■■■••■ 


■:# 



Fig. 3. 



Fig. 4. 



A braid work is produced by drawing with 
the needle a loose strip (white) through the 
strips of the braiding sheet (green), so that a 
number of the latter will appear over, another 
under the loose strip. These nmnbers are 
conditioned by thefonnthe work is to assume. 
As there are but two possible ways in which 
to proceed, either lifting up, or pressing down 



Fig. 2. 



■ 



! a : 1 1 ■ 1 1 1 i I 



.y.:.!.!AV.y: 



mm 



Fig. 5. 



Fig. 6. 



Fig. i, 

perform certain more complicated ■ tasks in the 
braiding or weaving department. It does not 
develop the right hand alone, the left also 
finds itself busy most of the time. It satisfies 
the taste of color, because to each piece of braid- 
ing, strips of at least two different colors be- the strips of the braiding sheet, the course to 
long. It excites the sense ■ of beauty because be taken by the loose strip is easily expressed 
beautiful, i.e., symmetrical, forms are pro- in a sunple fonnula. All varieties of patterns 
duced; at least their production is the aim of are expressible in such fonnulas and therefore 
this occupation. The sense and appreciation easily presei-ved and communicated, 
of mmiber are constantly nourished, nay it The simplest fonnula of course, is when one 
may be asserted, that there is hardly a better strip is raised and the nest pressed down. 

* Weaving has been developed in darning and basketry lessons of the primary grades and is used much 
less in the kindergarten than formerly owing to the criticisms of physicians. If weaving is used gray mats are 
best as backgrounds; inch strips only should be used at first. Never use less than half inch strips in kinder- 
gartens. Avoid strong colors. 



210 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



We express this formula by i u (up), i d 
(down) . All such formulas iu which only two 
figures occur, are called simple fornuilas ; com- 
bination fornuilas, however, are such as con- 
tain a combination of two or more such sim- 
ple formulas. 

But witli a single one of such formulas, no 
braid worlv can yet be constructed. If we 
should, for instance, repeat with a second, 
tliird, and fourth strip, i v,i(l, the loose strips 
would sHp over one another at the sliffhtest 



mm 



1 




i 


^ 

-•-"- 


: 


W 


# 


:■: 


II 


III 


III 


III 


V 


v.". 


:■:■:•: 


■:■:■ 



iEiiilllii: 

IMP 

:.i i i i I lils'l 



m 



Fig. 9. Fig. 10. 

braidwork, to employ great care ; but it is only 
then a braid or weaving work exists — when all 
strips are joined to the whole by other strips, 
and none remain entirely detached. 



m 



m 

: j.1.1 1 1 III: 



Fig. 11- Fig. 12. 

To produce a braid work, we need at least 
two formulas, which are introduced alternately. 
Proceeding according to the same fundamental 
law which lias led us thus far in all our work, we 
combine first with i ^(, i f?, its opposite i d, i u. 

Such a combination of braiding formulas ))y 
which not merely a single strip, but the whole 
braid work, is governed, is a braiding scheme. 



Braiding formulas, according to which the 
single strip moves, are easily invented. Even 
if one would Ihnit one's self to take up or press 
down uo more than five strijjs, (and such a 
limitation is necessary, because othei-wise the 
braiding would Ix-come too loose), the follow- 
ing thirty formulas would be the result : — 



1, 


luld 


9, 


3u Id 


17, 


4u2d 


24, 


5dlu 


2, 


Idlu 


10, 


3a lu 


18, 


4d 2u 


25, 


5u2d 


3, 


2u2d 


11, 


3u 2d 


19, 


4u.3d 


26, 


5d2u 


4, 


2d 2u 


12, 


3d 2u 


20, 


4d3u 


27, 


5u3d 


5, 


2uld 


13, 


4u4d 


21, 


5u 5d 


2S, 


5d3u 


G, 


2dlu 


l-l, 


4d4u 


22, 


5d 5u 


29, 


5u4d 


7, 


3u .-Sd 


15, 


4u Id 


23, 


5u Id 


30, 


5d4u 


8, 


3d 3u 


16, 


4d lu 











rmVM 



Fig. 7. Fig. 8. 

handling, and the strips of the l)raiding sheet 
and the whole work, drops to pieces if we 
should cut from it the margin, lu doiug the 
latter, we have, even with the most perfect 



■i 



iViiiYiViY 



H 



Fig. 13. Fig. 14. 

From these thirty formulas, among which are 
always two oppositionally alike, as forinstance, 
1 and 2, 9 and 10, 25 and 26, hundreds of 
combined, or combination formulas can be 
formed by simply uniting two of them. In the 
beginning it is ath-isable to condiine such as 



mm 





■ ■ ■ 1 


1 ■ ■ ■ 


■ ■ ■ 


! 


1 


is: 


III 


i:: 




UJ ! 


!in 


III 


! 


.kKk 


i i i ! i i 


■ 

; 
; 

i 


t 


! 1 1 1'lTlTl' 




MiiSiiiSi 


'• 


Mi 


iiil 


iiii 



mm 



Fig. 15. Fig. 16. 

contain equally named numbers either even or 
odd. The following are some examples : — 
Formuhis 1 
" ] 
1 
'■ 1 
" 1 
'• 1 
" 1 
1 
" 1 



and 3, lu Id, 2u 2d. 

■itid 5, lu Id, 2u Id. 

.and 7, lu Id, 3u 3d 

and 9, lu Id, 3u Id. 

and 11, lu Id, 3u 2d. 

and 13, lu Id, 4u 4d. 

and 15, lu Id, 4u Id. 

and 17, lu Id, 4u 2d. 

and 19, lu Id, 4u 3d. 
1 and 21, lu Id, 5u 5d 
1 rtud 23, lu Id, 5u Id! 
1 and 25, lu Id, 5u 2d. 
1 and 27, lu Id, 5u 3d. 



" 1 and 29, lu Id, 5u 4d. 
If we also add the formulas under the even 
numbers in the given thkty, we have to read 
them inversely. Thus : — 

* The Kraus Preliminary Weaving mats are valuable. Splints may be used in oil-cloth mats. Linen 
mats are also prepared by Milton Bradley Co. Rug weaving has been introduced in kindergartens, but it 
belongs to the primary. Bradley's Industrial Weaving Material is also excellent especially for lower primary 
grades. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



211 



Formulas 1 and 6, lu Id, lu 2d. 

•' 1 aud 10, lu Id, lu 3d. 

" 1 and 12, lu Id, 2u 3d. 

" 1 and 16, lu Id. lu 4d. 

" 1 and 18, lu Id, 2u 4d. 

" 1 and 20, lu Id, 3u id. 

" 1 and 24, lu Id, lu 5d. 

" 1 and 2G, lu Id, 2u 5d. 

" 1 aud 28, lu Id, 3u od. 

" 1 aud 30, lu Id, 4u 5d. 
By a eombinatiou of oue single formula with 



■! 



Figs. 3 and 4 ; Fig. 7 a combination of Figs. 
3 and 5 by combining the simple formulas. If 
we examine Fig. 7 the number three makes it- 
self prominent in the strips running obliquely. 
In Fig. 8 it occurs independently as opposite 




iiiiiiii:: 



Fig. 17. 

the twenty-four others, we receive new com- 
bination f ornuilas aud see that inventing form- 
ulas is a simple mathematical operation, regu- 
lated by the laws of combination. 

Much more diflicult it is to invent braiding 
schemes. Not to dwell too long on this point, 



>:S5^' 



ysKiK 



'^^& 



■w«^ 



Fig. 19. Fig. 20. 

we introduce the reader to the course shown 
in the following figui'es, which are aiTanged so 
systematically that either as a whole cr with 
some omissions, it may be worked through with 
children from three to six years, as a braiding 
school. It begins with simple formulas and by 







Fig. 23. 

to one and two and then follows in Figs. 
9-17 a series of mediative forms all uniting 
the opposites in regard to number. In all 
these patterns the squares or oblongs produced 
are arranged vertically under, or horizontally 





Fig. 2a 



Fi2. 26. 



beside, one another. Except in Fig. 3, the 
oblique line appears already beside the hori- 
zontal and vertical. Thus, this given oppo- 
site of form is prevailing in Figs. 18-32, and 
we apply here the same formulas in Figs. 3-17, 
with the difference, however, that we need only 





Fig. 28. 

oue formula, which in the second, third strip, 
Fio- 22 etc., always begins one strip later or earlier. 

''' ' Thus in Fig. 18, the formula 2u 2d (as in Fig. 

means of the law of opposites is carried out to 4) is carried out. The dark and light strips of 
the most beautiful figures. the pattern run here from right above, to left 

Formula i, lu id, (Fig. 3), is first iutro- below. Oppositeof position to Fig. 18 is shown 
duced ; opposite in regard to number is 2u 2d, in Fig. 19 where both run the opposite way. 
(Fig. 4). In Fig. 5 the numbers one and Fig. 20 shows combination, and Fig. 21 double 
two are combined ; Fig. 6 is a combination of combination. In opposition to the connected 



212 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



«l)lique lines, the broken line appears in Fig. 22. 
As the formula 2u 2d has furnislied us five 
patterns, so the formula of Fig. 5, lu 2d, fur- 
nishes the series, Figs. 23-27. Figs. 23 and 2-i 
are opposites as to direction. Fig. 25 shows 
the combination of these opposites. Figs. 26 







cation of the same formula. In Fig. 37 the 
broken line appears again, but in opposition 
to Fig. 22 it changes its direction with each 
breali. In Figs. 38-42 the formulas of Figs. 
9, 10, 12, 13, and 15 are carried out. The 
braiding school,pe)" se,is here concluded. Who- 
ever may think it too extensive may select 
from it Figs. 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 18, 19, 20, 23, 
2G, 27, 28, 35 and 36. 






Fig. 29. 



Fig. 30. 



and 27, opposites to one another, are forms 
of mediation between Figs. 23 and 24. With 
them for the first time a middle presents itself. 
"WHiile in Figs. 23-28 the dark color is pre- 
vailing, Figs. 28-30 show us predominantly, 
the light strip, consequently the opposite in 





Fig. 31. 

color. In Figs. 31-33, formulas from Figs. 
5-7 are employed. Fig. 31 requires an op- 
posite of direction, a pattern in which the strips 
run from left above to right below. Fig. 32 
gives the comliination of both directions and 
Figs. 33 and 34 are at the same time opposites 
as to direction and color. 





Fig. 33. Fig. 34. 

It is obvious that each single formula can 
be used for a whole series of divers patterns, 
and the invention of these patterns is so easy 
that it will suffice if we introduce each new 
formula very briefly. 

Fig. 35 is a form of mediation for the for- 
mula 3u 3d ; Fig. 36 shows a different appli- 



-■:. .IB. .B 



Fig. 35. 




Fig. 36. 



But if any one would like still to enlarge 
upon it, she may do so by working out, for 
each single formula, the forms or iiatterns 
18, 19, 20, 21, Hi and 27, and continue the 
school to the number 5. Tlie number of pat- 
terns will be made, thereby, ten times larger. 

Another change and enlargement of the 





Fig. 37. Fig. 38. 

school may be introduced by cutting the 
braiding strips, as well as tliose of the braiding 
sheet of different widths. We can thereby 
represent quite a number of patterns after the 
same formula, which are, however, essentially 
different. This is particularly to be recom- 







Fig. 39. Fig. 40. 

mended with very small children, who neces- 
sarily will have to be occupied longer with the 
simple formula lu id. But for more developed 
braiders, such change is of interest, because, 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



213 




Fig. 43. 



Fig. 44. 



Fig. 49. 




Fig. 45. 




Fig. 46. 





■ ■■■■■■■ I 

■■■-■-■wj-r 



■M.".' 



w ■■ ■ 

I i ■ I 



■■VS«."r ■!\«BV.' 
■.■.".SB.'. ■ .■.SB."-'-' 
■.■^■...■B8.BB^..?S.^.' 

. .1 .. .. ... .. .. a. I 



;v?b.'!bb'bb. .b^.^.^. 



■.■.■B ■B.B ■ B.B" ZW 



Fig. 47. 



Fig. 48. 



Fig. 5"0. 



214 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



by it a variety of forms may he produced which the braiding without braiding sheet. This is 
may be rendered still more attractive, by a va- done as follows : Cut two or more long strips 



riety of colors in the loose braiding strips. 
With patterns that have a middle, as Figs. 26 






(Fig. 55), of a quarter sheet of col- 
ored paper, (green) and fold to half 
their length, (Fig. 60) cut then, of 
differently colored paper, (white), 
sliorter strips, also fold these to half 
their lengih. Put the green strips, 
side by side of one another, as shown 
in Fig. 58, so that the closed end of 
one strip lies above and 
that of the other below, 
(Fig. 58cf). Then 
take the white strip 
bend it around strip 
1 , and lead it 
throng h strip 2, 
(Fig. 50). The 
second str i p is 
app lied in an op- 
jjosite way, lay i n g 
it a r on nd 2, and 



Fio;.55. Fig. 56. Fig. 57. 



Fig. 51. 

and 30 it is advisable to let the liraiding begin 
with the middle strip, and then to insert always 
one strip above, and one below it. 

It is not unavoida})ly necessary that the 
school should be finished from beginning to end, 
as given here. The pupil, having successfully 
produced some i)atterns, may be afforded an 
opportunitj' for developing his skill by his own 








■ 




< 


) 














1 




<; 
















■ 




< 
















I 




< 
















1 




< 
















w 




{ 






1 







Fig. 58. Fig. 59. 



Fig. 60. 



Fig. 52. Fig. 53. Fig. 54. produced 

invention, in trying to form, by braiding a 
cross, with hollow middle, (Fig. 43), a standing 
oblong, (Fig. 44), a long cross, (Fig. 45), a 
small window, (Fig. 47), etc. 

Figs. 48-51, present some patterns which 
may be used for wall-l)askets, lamp tidies, 
bookmarks, etc. 

Finally, Figs. 52-54, obliquely intertwined 
strips, representing the so-called free braiding. 



leading it through 1 . Employing four instead 
of two green strips, the bookmark, Fig. 60, 
will be the result. The protruding ends are 
e ither cut or seol loped. 
By introducing s t r i p s of 
differ entwidths, a va- 
riety of patterns can be 



H 



?:= 



Fig. Gl. Fig. 62. 



■I 



■ tTmumjaj 



Fig. 63. 



Instead of paper, glazed muslin, leather, 
silk or ribbon, straw and the like may be used 
as material for braiding. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



215 



EDITOR'S NOTES. 



The occupation of mat weaving is fully ex- 
plained in the foregoing pages, and the variety 
of material now prepared and for sale in the 
market is so great that almost anything which 
a teacher may require can be obtained without 
the "special cutting" which formerly was of ten- 
times deemed necessary. With the weaving 
material prepared in the modern educational 
colored papers the best possible exercises in 
color combinations are introduced, and l)y ju- 
dicious selections of mats and fringes on the 
part of the teacher the child may be acens- 
tonied to harmonious combinations of colors, 
and thus never acquire the preference for gaudy 
combinations which is usually attributed to chil- 
iiren and savages. Bright pure colors do not 
necessarily make "loud" combinations, and 
muddy colors are not essential to artistic etfects. 

For youngest cMldi'en a mat foui- inches 



square with a cut surface of three inches is 
very desirable, because little hands can manipu- 
late such mats to better advantage than the 
larger sizes. These small mats are cut with 
various numbers of strips from live to ten, thus 
providing for much practical use of numbers 
and a great variety of designs in the patterns 
of the weaving. The very elaborate and in- 
tricate wea^•ing designs which are possible with 
large mats and narrow strips are not adapted 
to younger children, and those who are ex- 
perienced enough to do this grade of work can 
be profitably employed in more advanced work, 
which may be less intricate and fatiguing and 
more educational. 

Free braiding is developed quite extensively 
by some teachers, while others make compara- 
tively little of it, but it is capable of varied 
and beautiful results. 



THE FIFTEENTH GIFT.* 

THE INTERLACING SLATS. 



Frcebel ill liis Gifts of the Kindergarten, 
does not present anytliing perfectly new. All 
his means of occupation are the result of care- 
ful observation of the playful child. But he 
has united them in one corresponding whole; 
he has invented a method, and by this method 
presented the possibility of producing an ex- 
haustless treasure of foi-mations which, each 
influencing the uiind of the pupil in its pecu- 
liar wa3', effect a development most harmoui- 
ous and thorough of all the mental facuuies. 
The use of slats for interlacing is an occupa- 
tion already known to our ancestors, and who 
has not practiced it to some extent in the days 
of childhood? But who has ever succeeded 
lu producing more than five or six figures with 
them? Who has ever derived, from such 
occupation, the least degree of that manual 
dexterity and mental development, inventive 
power and talent of combination, which it af- 
fords the pupils of the Kindergarten since 
Fra>bel's method has been applied to the 
material ? 

Our slats, ten inches long, one-fourth of an 
inch broad and one-sixteenth of an inch thick, 




Fiar. 1. 



ainining it, he perceives that it is flexible, that 
its length surpasses its breadth many times 
and again that its thickness is many times 
less than its breadth. 

Can the pupil name some objects between 
which and the slat, there is any similarity? 

The rafters under the roof of a house, and 
in the arms of a wind mill, and the laths of 
which fences, and certain kinds of gates and 
lattice work are made, are similar to the slat. 

The child ascertains that the slat has two 
long plane sides and two ends. He finds its 




Fig. 2. 

are made of birch or any tough wood, and a 
dozen of them are sullleient to produce quite a 
variety of figures. They form, as it were the 
transition from the plane of the tablet to the 
line of the sticks, (Ninth Gift) differing, how- 
ever, from both, in the fact that forms pro- 
duced by them are not bound to the plane, 
but contain in themselves a sufficient hold to 
be separated from it. 

The child first receives one single slat. Ex- 

* Some kindergartiiers use these slats for outliuiiig 
for outlining are now obtainable. 



middle or center point, can indicate the upper 
and lower side of the slat, its upper and lower 
end, and its right and left side. After these 
preliminaries, a second slat is given the child. 
On comparison the child finds them perfectly 
alike, and he is then led to find the positions 
which the two slats may occupy to each other. 
They can be laid parallel with each other, so 
as to touch one another with the whole length 
of their sides, or they may not touch at all. 

They can be placed in such positions that 
their ends touch in various ways, and can be 
laid crosswise, over or nnder one another. 

With an additional slat, the child now con- 
tinues these experiments. He can lay various 
figures with them, but there is no binding or 
connecting hold. Therefore, as soon as he at- 
tempts to lift his work from the table, it falls 
to pieces. 

By the use of fovr slats, he becomes enabled 
to produce something of a connected whole, 
but this only is clone, when each single slat 
comes in contact with at least three other slats. 
Two of these should be on one side, the third 
or middle one should rest on the other side of 
the connecting slat, so that here again the law 

rather than the smaller sticks, but enlarged sticks 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



217 



of opposites and their mediation is followed 
and practically demonstrated in every figure. 

It is not easy to apply this law coustantlj' 
in the most appropriate manner. But this 
very necessity of painstaking, and the reason- 
ing, without which little success will be at- 
tained, is productive of rich fruit in the de- 
velopment of the pupil. 

The child now places the slat act, horizontal^ 
upon the table. Bb, is placed across it in a 
vertical direction ; cc, in a slanting direction 
under a and b, and del, is shoved under ««, and 
over bb, and under cc, as shown in Fig. ) . 

This gives a connected form, which will not 





Fig. 5. 

easily drop apart. The child investigates how 
each single slat is held and supported — he in- 
dicates the angles, which were created, and 
the figures which are bounded by the vaiious 
parts of the slats. 

To show how rich and manifold the material 
for observation and instruction given in this 
one figure is, we will mention that it contains 
twenty-four angles, of which eight are right, 





Fig. 6. 



Fig. 



eight acute, and eight obtuse — formed by oue 
vertical sl.at, bb, one horizontal «a, one slant- 
ing from left above to right below, cr, and 
another slanting from right above to left be- 
low, del. 

Each single slat touches each other slat 
once ; two of them, aa and bb, pass over two 
and under oue, aud the others, cc andf?d, pass 
under two and over one of the other slats, bj' 
which interlacing, three small figures are 



formed within the large figure, one of which is 
a figure with two right, one obtuse aud one 
acute angle, and four unequal sides, and two 
others, one of which is a right-angled triangle 
with two equal sides, aud the other is a right 
angled triangle with no equal sides. 

By dra-n-ing the slats of Fig. 1 apart, Fig. 2, 
an acute-angled triangle is produced — by draw- 
ing them together, Fig. 3 results, from which 




Fig. 8. 




Fig. 9 



the acute-angled triangle. Fig. 4, can again be 
easily formed. Each of these figures presents 
abundant matter for investigation and instruc- 
tive conversation, as shown in connection with 
Fig. 1. 

The child now receives a Jifth slat. Sup- 
pose we have Fig. 2, consisting of four slats 
— ready before ns — we can, by adding the 
fifth slat, easily produce Fig. 8. 





Fig. 10. 



Fig. 11. 



If the five slats are disconnected, the child 
may lay two, vertically at some distance from 
each other, a third in a slanting position over 
them from right above to left below, and a 
fourth in an opposite direction, when the two 
latter will cross each other in their middle. By 
means of the fifth slat the interlacing then is 
carried out, by sliding it from right to left 
under the vertical over the crossing two, and 
again under the other vertical slat, and thereby 
the Fig. 5 made firm. 

By bending the vertical slats together, Fig. 
6 is produced ; when the horizontal slat as- 
sumes a higher position, a five-angled figure 
appears — one of the slanting slats, however, 



218- 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 






Fig. 12. 



Fig. 13. 



Fig. 22. 



Fig. 23. 




Fig. 14, 



Fig. 15. 




Fig. 24. 




Fig. 25. 




Fig. 16. 




Fig. 17. 




Fig. IS. 



Fig. 19. 




Fig. 26. 



Fig. 28. 



Fig. 27. 




Fig. 29. 




Fig. 20. 



Fig. 21. 





Fig. 30. 



Fig. 31. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



>19 



has to change its position also, as shown iu The Figs. 17 and IS, (triangles) and Figs. 19 

Fig. 7. In Fig. 8, the horizontal slat is moved and 23, (hexagons), deserve particnlar atten- 

downward. In Fig. 9, the original position tiou, because they afford valuable means for 

of the crossing slats is changed ; iu the triangle, mathematical observations. 
Fig. 10, still more, and in Figs. 11 aud 12, 
other changes of these slats are introduced. 

The addition of a sixth slat enables us still s 





Fig. 32. Fig. 33. 

further to form other figures from the previous 
ones — Fig. 17 can be produced from P'ig. 9, 
Fig. 18 from Figs. 10 or 11, Fig. 22 from 
Fig. 12, aud then a followiug series can be 
olitaiued by drawing ajiart and sho\-ing to- 
gether as heietofore. 

Let us begin thus : The child lays (Fig. 13) 





Fig. 34. 



Fig. 35. 



two slats horizontally upon the table — two 
slats verticallj' over them ; a large square is 
produced. A fifth slat horizontally across the 
middle of the two vertical slats, gives two paral- 
lelograms, and by connecting the sixth slat 







Fig. 38. Fig. 39. 

We find some few ex.amples of seven inter- 
twined slats, in (Figs. 25-28), of eight slats, 
(Figs. 29-36), of nine slats, (Figs. 37-40), 
aud of ten slats, (Figs. 41-43). 

All we have given in the above are mere 
hints to enable the teacher and pupil to find 




Fig. 40. 

more readily by indi^•idual application, the 
richness of figures to be formed with this oc- 
cupation material. 

It is particularly mathematical forms, reg- 




from above to below with the three horizontal 
slats so that the middle one is under aud the 
two outside slats over it, the child will have 
formed four small squares, of equal size. 



Fig. 41. 

ular polygons, (Figs. 28, 31, 40,42), contem- 
plation of divisions, produced by diagonals, 
etc., planes aud proportions of form, which, 
in forms ofknowledge, are brought before the 



220 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



eye of the pupil, with great clearness and dis- 
tinctness, by the interlacing slats. 

In the meantime, it will afford pleasure to 
behold the forms of beauty, as given in Figs. 
30, 33, 37; nor should the forms of life be 
forgotten, as they are easily produced by a 
larger number of slats, (Fig. 39 — a fan; Figs. 
35 and 36 — fences) , by combining the work of 
sevp'-al pupils. 




The occupation with this material will fre- 
quently prove perplexing and troublesome to 
the pupil ; oftentimes he will try in vain to 
represent the object in his mind. 

Having almost successfully accompUshed 
the task, one of the slats will glide out from 
his structiu-e, and the whole will be a mass of 
ruins. It was the one slat, which, owing to 
its dereliction in jjerf ormiug its duty, destroyed 
the figure, and prevented all the others from 
performing theirs. 




Fig. 43. 

It will not be ditlicult for the thinking 
teacher to derive from such an occurrence, the 
opportunity to make an application to other 
The figures are not simply to be constructed conditions in life, even within the sphere of the 
and to be changed to others, but each of them young child, and his companions in and out of 
is to be submitted to a careful investigation school. The character of this occupation does 



Fig. 4-2. 



by the child, as to its angles, its constituent 
parts, and thch' qualities, and the senice each 
individual slat performs in the figure, as indi- 
cated with Fig. 1 . 



not admit of its introduction before the pupils 
have spent a consideralile time in the Kinder- 
garten, in which it is only begun, and coq 
tinued in the primary department. 



Note — This gift is used very little in the kindergarten. Such slats are valuable for use in simple con- 
struction work, for example in making a fan. Sometimes a tew slats are used in connection with the third or 
fourth gift. The fences in the sand box also require their use. They are used as the tools in pasting and in 
modeling. See use of slats as illustrated in Plate No. XVIII. 



THE SIXTEENTH GIFT.* 



THE SLAT "WITH MANY LINKS. 



This occupation material, which may be 
used at almost auy grade of development in 
the Kindergarten, the primary and higher 
school departments, is rich in its application, 
and may be employed in representing various 
kinds of lines and angles. 

In making simple geometrical figures the 
gift is invalualile and the forms of life and 
beauty which may be produced with it offer 
profitable exercise for the inventive powers of 
the child. A few figures here given may sug- 
gest the possibilities of this gift in the several 
classes of outlines to which it is adapted. 





Fig. 1. Fig. 2. 

"We have slats with four, sis, eight and six- 
teen links, which are introduced one after the 
other when opportunities offer. In putting the 
first in the hand of the child we would ask 
him to unfold all the links of the slat, and to 
place it upon the table so as to represent a 
vertical, horizontal and then an oblique line. 




brought to, or from each other, until we re- 
duce the angles to either a vertical line of two 
links' length, or a horizontal line of the length 
of four links. 

We may then form a square. Fig. 1. Push- 
ing two opposite corners of it toward each 
other, and bending the first link so as to cover 




Fiz. 



Fig. 6. 



with it the second, and, then joining the end 
of the foiu-th link to where the first and second 
are united, we shall form an equilateral tri- 
angle. Fig. 2. (Which other triangle can be 
formed with this slat, and how?) 

The capital letters V, "\V, N, M, Z, and the 




Fig. 7. Fig. 8. 

Fi<J 3 Ficr 4 

° '^' figure fom- can be easilv produced by the chil- 

By bending two of the links vertically and dren, and many figures constructed by the 
the two others horizontally we form a right teacher in which the pupils may designate the 
angle. Bending one of the links of the angle number and kinds of angles, which they con- 
toward or from the other, we receive the acute tain, as is done ivith the movable slats on other 
and obtuse angles, which gi-ow smaller or occasions, 
larger, the nearer or farther the links are Fig. 1-8 are examples given with the four 

* This gift is not used to any extent in the kindergarten, but it is an interesting 
older cliildren. ° 



and instructive toy for 



222 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 




Fis. 9. 




Fig. 10. 





Fio-. 14. 




Fig. 15. 




Fig. 16. 



Fig. 17. 




Fig 12. 



Fig. 13. 



Fig. 18. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



223 



links. The slats with sis hiiks are introduced 
next, from which the oblong may be made. 
Figs. 9-21 fm-nish examples of the six links. 




Fig. -22. 
Then come the eight and sixteen links, which if 
used in the manner here indicated can be ren- 
dered exceedingly interesting and instructive 



to the pupils. A combination of the different 
forms of knowledge may be made, as two equi- 
laterals. Fig. 15 ; a square and triangle, Fig. 
21 ; a square and pentagon. Fig 35 ; oblong 




Fig. 23. 
and rhombus. Fig. 36, etc. Figs. 22-35 are 
figures made with the eight links and Figs. 36- 
45 with the sixteen links. 

The ingenuity and inventive power of the 
childi-enwill find a large field in the occupation 




Fig. 24. 
with this material, if, at times, they are allowed 
to produce figures themselves, of which the 
more advanced pupils may make drawings and 
give a description of each orally. 




Fig. 25. 



It would be needless to enlarge here upon the 
richness of material afforded bj' this gift, as half 
an hour's study of and practice with it will con- 
^•ince each thinking teacher fully of the treasure 
in her hand and certainly make her admu-e it on 
account of the simplicity of its apphcatiou for 
educational purposes in school and family. 



224 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 







Fig. 30. 



Fiff. 27. 





Fiff. 28. 



Fig. 31. 




PARADISE OF CHILDHOOU 



225 



Fig. 32. 




Fig. 35. 




Fig. 33. 





Fig. 36. 




Fig. 34. 



Fig. 37. 



226 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 





Fiar. 38. 



Fig. 40. 




Fig. 39. 



Fig. 41. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



227 




Fig. 42. 



Fig. 44. 




Fig. 43. 



Fig. 45. 



THE SEVENTEENTH GIFT* 

MATERIAL FOR INTERTWINING. 



Intertwining is an occupatiou similar to 
that of interlacing. Aim of both is represen- 
tation of plane — ontlines. In the occupation 
with the interlacing slats we produced forms, 
whose peculiarities, at least, had to be changed 
to produce something new ; here, we produce 
permanent results. There, the material was 
in every respect a ready one ; here, the pupil 
has to prepare it himself. There, hard slats 
of little flexibility ; here, soft paper, easily 
changed. There, production of purely math- 
ematical forms by carefully employing a given 
material ; here, production of similar forms by 
changing the material, which forms, however, 
are forms of beauty. 



Fu'st, a right-angled isosceles triangle is used 
for laying around it one of these strips so as 
to enclose it entirely. We begin with the left 
cathetus, put the tablet upon the strip, folding 
it toward the right over the right angle. The 




The paper strips, not used when preparing 
the folding sheets, are used as material, adapted 
for the present occupation. They are strips 
of white or colored paper, twenty inches long 
and varying in lireadth. Each strip is sub- 
divided in smaller strips, which by folding 
their long sides are transformed to threefold 
strips of eight to ten inches long and one- 
quarter of an inch wide. 





Fig. 5. Fig. 6. 

break of the paper is well to be pressed down, 
and then the strip is again folded around the 
acute angle toward the left. Where the hy- 
potenuse (large side) touches the left cathetus 



^ 



Fig. 7. Fig. 8. 

(small side), the strip is cut and the ends of 
the figure there closed by gluing them together 
by some clean adhesive matter. Care should 




Fig. 3. Fig. 4. 

The children will not succeed well, in form- 
ing regular figures from these strips at first. 
As the main object of this occupation is to ac- 
custom the cliild to a clean, neat and coiTCCt 
performance of his task, some of the tablets of 
Gift Seven are given him as patterns to assist 
him ; or the child is led to draw three, four, 
or many cornered forms, and to intertwine his 
paper strips according to these. 



^ 



f^ 



^ 



Fig. 11. 



be taken that the one end of each side be under, 
the other over, that of the other. 

Thus the \*arious kinds of triangles, (Figs. 
1-3), squares, rhombus, rhomboids, etc., are 
produced. 

Two like figures are combined, as shown in 



= This occupation is suitable for cliildren beyond the kindergarten age. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



229 




Fig. 12. 



Fig. 13, 




V~ 



4^ 



T^ 



Fig. 14. 



^ 



Fig. 15. 




Fig. 16. 




Fig. 17. 




Fior. 18. 




Fig. 19. 




Fig. 20. 




Fig. 21. 



Fig. 22. 



230 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



Figs. 4-6. If strips prove to be too sliort 
the child is sliown how to glue them together, 
to procure material for larger and more com- 
plicated forms. Thus, it produces with one 
long sti'ip, Figs. 16, 18, 10, 20 ; with two long 
strips. Figs. 17, 21. Fig. 22 shows the natu- 
ral size ; all others are drawn on a somewhat 
reduced scale. It cannot be difficult to pro- 
duce a great variety of similar figures, if one 
will act according to the motives obtained with 
and derived from the occupation with the in- 
terlacing slats. 



two like figures combined, and finally more 
complicated figures produced. (Compare ex- 
amples given in Figs. 10-15). 

Whatever issues from the child's hand suffi- 
ciently neat and clean and carefully wrought, 
may be mounted on stiff paper or bristol board 
and disposed of in many waj's. 

The occupation of intertwining shows plainly 
how by combination of simple mathematical 
forms, forms of beauty may be produced. 
These latter should predominate in the Kinder- 




This occupation admits of still another and 
very beautiful modification, by not only pinch- 
ing and pressing the strip where it forms 
angles, but by folding it to a rosette. This 
process is illustrated in Figs. 7-9. The strip 
is first pinched toward the right, (Fig. 7), then 
follows the second pinch downwards, (Fig. 8), 
then a third toward the left, when the one end 
of the strip is pushed through under the other. 
(Fig. 9). 

Here, also, simple triangles, squares, pen- 
tagons and hexagons are to be formed, th^L-n 

EDITOR' 

Preface the work of intertwining by a divi- 
sion of the strip, which may be folded to dif- 
ferent widths according to the design required. 
Exercises in position are interesting. Any ob- 
ject that can be represented by a flat outline 
can be made with the strips, in forms of life, 
knowledge and beauty, and then mounted on 
sheets of bristol board for safe keeping. In 
the geometrical forms the square, oblong, right 
isosceles and equilateral triangles, and the hex- 
agon and octagon, give fundamental forms for 
a large number of designs. 

This gift, however, is better adapted for older 
children than are found in the kindergarten. 




Fig. 24. 

garten, and the mathematical are of impor- 
tance as they present the elements for their 
construction. The mathematical element of 
all our occupations is in so far of significance, 
as the child receives from it impressions of 
form ; but of much more importance is the de- 
velopment of the child's taste for the beautiful, 
because with it, the idea of the good is de- 
veloped in the meantime. 

As the various performances of this occu- 
pation, cutting, folding and mounting, require 
a somewhat skilled hand, it is introduced in 
the upper section of the Kindergarten only. 

S NOTES. 

as it requires greater dexterity and accin-acy 
than the little ones have at their command. The 
simplest work fur them is the making of paper 
chains from strips about three inches long. 
Make a chain by joining the ends and fastening 
them with paste. Put a new strip of paper 
through the last ring made, each time before 
joining the ends. Alternate rings of two har- 
monizing colors may be used with a pretty effect. 
The two colors may be mixed and given to the 
children to sort, before beginning to paste. 
Rings, bracelets, necklaces, and long chains 
make a pleasant variety and teach the children 
neatness in pasting and harmony in color. 



THE EIGHTEENTH GIFT* 

MATERIAL FOR PAPER FOLDING. 



Fecrbel's sheet of paper for folding, the 
Bimplest and cheapest of all materials of occu- 
pation, contains within it a great multitude of 
instructive and interesting forms. Almost 
every feature of mathematical perceptions, 
obtained by means of prexious occupations, 
we again find in the occupation of paper fold- 
ing. It is indeed a compendium of elemen- 



pany the work of the children with uecessaiy 
conversation and pleasant entertaiiunent, for 
the relief of their young minds. 

The child should be accustomed to the 
strictest care and cleanliness in the folding. 

This is necessary, because paper carelessly 



Fig. 1. 

tary mathematics, and has, therefore, very 
justly and judiciously been recommended as a 
useful help in the teaching of this science in 
public schools. 




folded and cut, will not only render more 
difficult every following task, nay, make im- 
possible every satisfactory result ; especially 
should this be the case, because, we do not 
intend simply to while aw.iy our own and the 





Fig. 2. __„^ 

Lines, angles, figures and foi-ms of all Fig. 4. 

varieties appear before us, after a few mo- child's precious time, but are engaged in an 

aents' occupation with this material. The occupation whose final aim is acquisition of 

multitude of impressions, however, should not ability to work, and to work well — one of the 

misguide us ; and we should always, and more most important clauns human society is en- 

particularly in this work, be careful to accom- titled to make upon each individual. 

* This occupation of paper folding is mucli used and enters into all constructive work. We regret that we 
have not more plates showing forms of life folded from the square and the circle, but many are familiar and 
others can be invented by practice. The forms of beauty should be few and may be called picture frames, thus 
connecting them with a form of life. 



232 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



The fuudaniental forms are produced by a 
series of regular chauges of folding and creas- 
ing, from which sequels of forms of life and 
beauty are subsequeutly developed, by means 
of the law of opposites. 




Fig. 5. 

On the road to this goal, a surprising num- 
ber of forms of knowledge present themselves. 

In beginning lessons in paper folding give 
each child a piece of paper fom- inches square, 
(Fig. 1), aud have him place it on the table 



Fig. G. 
with the corner toward him. Fold the upper 
corner over to meet the lower corner, as shown 
in Fig. 2. This when unfolded will show the 
diWsion of the square in two right-angled isos- 
celes triangles, (Fig. 3). 



Fold again on the other diagonal, and when 
unfolded we find a square divided by two diago- 
nals into four right-angled isosceles triangles, 
(Fig. 4). Now the lower and right hand cor- 
ners are folded over to the left, making two 
oblong halves by a transversal as in Fig. 5. 





Fig. 7. 
The same is done to the opposite transversal 
and when unfolded we have Fig. 6, which af- 
fords a multitude of mathematical object per- 
ceptions. With the square placed cornerwise, 
fold the lower corner to the center of the paper 
and the pentagon. Fig. 7, will be the result. 
We fold the opposite corner in like manner 
and produce the hexagon, (Fig. 8), and fi- 
nally with the two remaining corners. Fig. 9 
is formed, containing four triangles, touching 
one anothei' with their free sides, each of them 
again showing a line halving them in two equal 
triangles. 



If we invert Fig. 9, we have Fig. 10, a con- 
nected square in which the outlines of eight 
congruent triangles appear. If Fig. 9 is un- 
folded we shall see beside a multiplication of 
previous forms, parallelograms also. If we 
start from Fig. 9, aud fold the corners toward 



PARADISE OJ' CHILDHOOD. 



233 



the middle as in Fig. 11, we shall receive a 
form consistina; of four thicknesses of paper, 
and showing four triangles, under which again, 
four separate squares are found, (Fig. 12). 
This is the fi'ndainental form for a series of 
forms of life. 





Fig. 10. 
dergarten will be of more assistance than the 
most detailed illustrations and descriptions. 
Frcebel's Manual mentions, among others the 




basket, Fig. 16. Cup and saucer. Fig. l7. 
Crown, Fig. 18. Still richer become the forma 
of life, if we bend the corners of the described 
fundamental form, once more toward the mid- 
dle. In connection with this, the manual 
mentions the following forms : The knitting- 
pouch, the chest of drawers, the boots, the hat, 
the cross, the pantaloons, the frame, the gon- 
dola, etc. But the simple fundamental form 



Fig. 9. 
It is utterly impossible to give a minute de- 
scription how forms of life may be produced 
from this fundamental form. Practical at- 
icmyts and occasional observation in the Kin- 




Fig. 12. 
for the forms of Ufe, (Fig. 12), is also the 
fundamental form for the forms of beauty. 
Unfold the fundamental form and press the 
middle of the upper and lower sides, then the 



■\ 


x 




I "x i . 


\ i 


,-''i 


A 


y 1 

j- i 



Fig. 13. 

remaining two sides to the center of the square, 
as in Fig. 19. Fold each of the overreaching 
triangles to the left. Fig. 20, then back to the 
center of the square, Fig. 21. 




Fi- 11 ^- !*• 

following objects: \ table-cloth with four k.?°99 "^Tr^^f'^ ^''"^ ^"^ ?^. ""^^'^ """"T^ 

K„.,.^;.,„ „« u- ,o . ■>, tV *'g- 22. Thia forms a small tnangle, which 

hangmg corners, J, g. 13 A sa. boat, Fig. wbl^n pressed open will form a small ;qnare, 

14. A double canoe, F,g. 15. A httle work- pig. 23. Turning each corner of this square 



234 




GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



Fig. 20. 







Fig. 2L 



Fig. 22. 




Fig. 2" 




Fig. 2.5. 




Fig. 2: 




Fig. 29. 



Fig. 31. 



S^ 



Fig. 24. 



^^\ ; 


^^i 


X^^^^-:.'*; 


""'^tw^M 


w 


1 


M 



Fig. 26. 




Fig. 28. 




Fig. 30. 




Fig. 32. 



bacli liaif way to its opposite coinev we have this form take the paper as in Fig. 19, open 
Fig. 24. From a similar fundamental form and press each corner to the center making 
the series of Figs. 26-34 originate. To make four small squares as in Fig. 25. From this 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



235 



form the sequeDce is easily produced. If we 
finally take the paper as represented in Fig. 
10, fold the lower right corner toward the mid- 
dle, also the left upper, then the two remain- 
ina; corners, we shall have four triangles cou- 





Fig. 33. Fig. 34. 

sisting of a double layer of paper, Fig. 35, 
which may be lifted up from the square ground 
and the upper layer again divided in triangles. 





Fig. 35. Fig. 36. 

Invert this figure and you will have four 
single squares, as shown in Fig. 36, which is 
the fundamental form of a series of forms of 




'-/\ 


■:=_ y^Tiazsz 


% 


1/ 


■fe '< V 


7 


X 


\:/ 


M. 



Fig. 37. Fig. 38. 

beauty, shown in Figs, 37—46, the latter easily 
derived from this former under the guidance 
of the well-known law of opposites. 





Fig. 39. Fig. 40. 

The hints given in the above might be aug- 
mented to a considerable extent and still not 
exhaust the matter. They are given especially 



to stimulate teacher and child to individual, 
practical attempts in produciiio- forms by fold. 





Fig. 41. Fig. 42. 

ing. The best results of their activity can be 
improved by cutting out or coloring, which 
adds a new and interesting change to this oc- 
cupation. A change of the fundamental form 
in three directions yields various series of forms 
of beauty, which may be multi]:>lied ad infini- 





Fig. 43. Fig. 44. 

turn. Thereby, not only the idea of sequel in 
representations is given, but also the under- 
standing unlocked for the various orders in 
nature. 

Furthermore, this occuiiation gives the pupil 
such manual dexterity as scarcely any other 
does, and prepares the way to vai'ious female 
occui)ations, besides being immediately pre- 
paratory to all plastic work. Early training 




Fig. 45. 




Fig. 



m cleanliness and cave is also one of the re- 
sults of a protracted use of the folding i^aper. 
It is evident that only those children who have 
lieen a good while in the Kindergarten, can be 
employed in this department of occupation. 
The peculiar fitness of the folding paper for 
mathematical instruction beyond the Kinder- 
garten, must be apparent after we have shown 
how useful it can be made in this institution. 



236 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION, 



EDITOR'S NOTES. 



The material for paper folding consists of 
square, rectangular, triangular and circular 
pieces of various colors. Begin the lessons 
with a talk on the material, telling the process 
by which paper is made, and asking the chil- 
dren to name different articles which aie made 
from it, and different things for which it is 
used. When the papers are given to the chil- 
dren and placed in the position directed, have 
them quietly wait until all are ready to begin 
work. See tliat they thoroughly understand 
the different positions, as front, back, right, 
left, front-right, back-left, front-left, and back- 
right. Bring out the ideas of edge, corner, 
vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines. In giv- 
ing dictations see that the children work by op- 
posites, and that they do not lift or turn the 
paper, as they should learn to fold in all direc- 
tions equally well. Let them name and use 



try can be evolved and this fact is pleasingly 
brought out in this occupation. For these ex- 
ercises the four-inch paper is most couvenient 
and a single fold on a diameter gives the semi- 
circle shown in Fig. 47. Fold again bringing 
the two ends of the diameter together, and the 
quarter circle shown in Fig. 48 is the result. 
Unfold and Fig. 49 shows the circle divided into 
four equal parts by two creases perpendicular to 
each other. Fold the edge of the circle over 
towards the center so as to make a crease join- 
ing the ends of two diameters, and repeat four 
times to produce Fig. 60. Unfold, and Fig. 51 





Fig. 47. Fig. 48. 

the forms they make, taking a fresh square for 
each object. The folds are repeated every time, 
but each additional fold makes a new object, 
which, if named, helps the children to remem- 
ber the order of succession, especially if a story 
is added, and they can use the object. Arrange 
the folding according to the season of the year 
and the special subject of the week, and yet 
follow a sequence that the childi-en may see 
the development of one form from another. 





Fig. 49. Fig. 50. 

By the means of paper folding we are able to 
trace the evolution of the seventh gift tablets 
from the circular folding paper. As the ball 
is the most elementary form among solids, so the 
circle is the primary form in surfaces with its 
single dimension, the diameter. From the circle 
the several elementary forms in plain geome- 





Fig. 51. 



Fig. 52. 



is the result, showing by the creases a complete 
square with two diagonals. In these we have 
the square and half square, which is again di- 
■s-ided into two other similar forms each one half 
the size of the first. Take another paper circle 
and again fold on one diameter, as in Fig. 47. 
The next operation is somewhat more difficult 
than any which have preceded it and is shown 
in Fig. 52. This operation consists in folding 
the semi-cucumference of the once folded circle 
into three equal parts. Fig. 52, and then, while 





Fig. 53. 

holding the circumference edges together closely 
making the folds to the center of the circle. 
In this operation accuracy may be facilitated 
by first folding the semi-circumference into 
halves as though the paper were to be folded 
into quarters as in Fig. 48 and then, instead of 
completing the radial fold, just pinch the fold 
at the center of the circle and thus indicate the 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



237 



common point of meeting for the two folds in 
completing Fig. 52. Having completed Fig. 52, 
unfold, and Fig. 53 is the result. Now fold the 



that three folds will form a triangle as in 
Fig. 54. Unfold, and Fig. 55 is is result. In 
this we have the equilateral triangle a, b, c. 
The obtuse angle a, b, x, the scalene triangle 
a, b, d, or the smaller one b, x, d. 

The above evolution of the seventh gift 
forms from the circle, is the result of thought 
along this line by kindergartners in America, 
and has been extended to the evolution of solid 
forms from the sphere, which it is not in the 
province of these notes to discuss. This oc- 
cupation is one of the best for busy work in 
^'o- 55. the primary department because of its practical 

Segments of the circle towards the center as application to form and ntmiber. Modern sug- 
was done in making the square but instead of gestious may be found in Paper and Scissors 
having the fold subtend ninety degrees let it in the Schoolroom by Emily A. AVeaver, and 
subtend one hundred and twenty degrees so also iu other books. 

Note. — Forms of life made from the circle are interesting to the children at an early stage of paper folding. 
For example, a circle doubled gives a rocking horse. The kindergartner may cut a rider and seat him on the 
rocker for a toy. A fan is also easily folded from the circle, a semicircle or a quadrant, making an open fan. A 
splint furnishes the handle. An umbrella, open or closed, may readily be made also. 




THE NINETEENTH GIFT* 



MATEEIAL FOR PEAS- WORK. 



We have already tried, in connection witli 
the Eighth Gift, (the laying sticlvs), to ren- 
der permanent the productions of- the pupils 
by stitching or pasting- them to stiff paper. 
We satisfied by so doing a desire of the child, 





Fig 1. Fig. 2. 

which grows stronger as the child grows older, 
the desire to produce by his own acti%'ity cer- 
tain lasting results. It is no longer the in- 
cipient instinct of activity which governs the 





Fig. 3. Fig. 4. 

child, the instinct which prompted him ap- 
parently without aim, to destroy everything 
and to reconstruct in order to again desti'oy. 





Fig. 5. Fig. fi. 

A higher pleasure of production has taken its 
place ; not satisfied by mere doing, but requir- 
ing for his satisfaction also, delight in the 
created object — if even unconsciously — the de- 
light of progress, which manifests itself in the 
production, and which can be observed only 
in and by tlie permanency of the object which 
enables us to compare it with objects previous- 
ly produced. 



To satisfy the claims of the pupils in this 
direction in a high degi-ee, the working with 
peas is eminently fitted, although considerable 




©c 



@ 



a 



^ 



^ 



4j) 



Fig. 7. Fig. 8. 

manual skill is required for it, not to be ex- 
pected in any child before the fifth year. The 
material consists of pieces of wire of the thick- 
ness of a hau--piu, of various sizes in length, 





Fig. 9. Fig. 10. 

and pointed at the ends. They again repre- 
sent lines. As means of combination, as em- 
bodied points of junction, peas are used, 
soaked about twelve hours in water and dried 




Fig. 11. Fig. 12. 

one hour pre^•^ous to being used. They are 
then just soft enough to allow the child to In- 
troduce the points of the wires into them and 
also hard enough to afford a sufBeient hold to 
the latter. 



* Peas work is trying work except in its simplest form. Such forms of life as tlie hat-pins, dumb-bells, 
drumsticks, which require but one or two sticks and a few peas are as far as many kindergartners proceed. A 
few simple tools and pieces of furniture may be outlined with peas and toothpicks. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



239 



The first exercise is to combine two mres, duce six triangles of equal size, and repeat 
by means of one pea, into a sti'aight line, an with them all the exercises, gone through with 



obtuse, right and acute angle. What has been 
said in regard to laying of sticks in connection 
with Figs. 1-23 sticks of that gift will sei-ve 
here also. 




the tablets, and may enlarge upon them. 

Or the child may prepare fou)-, eight, sixteen 
right-angled triangles, or obtuse-angled, or acute- 
angled triangles and lay with them Figs. 1-12 
for the course of drawing, and caiTy them out 
still further. 



Fig. 13. Fig. U. 

Of thi'ee wires, a longer line is formed ; 
angles, with one long, and one short side. 
The three wires are inti'oduced into one pea, 





Fig. 15. Fig. 16. 

so that they meet in one point ; two parallel 
lines may he continued by a third ; finally the 
equilateral triangle is produced. 



Fig. 18. 

After these hints it seems impossible not to 
occupy the child in an interesting and instruc- 
tive manner ; for the condition attached to 
each new gift of the Kindergarten is some 
special progress in its course. 

We produced outlines of many objects with 
the sticks ; all fonnatious, however, remained 
planes, whose sides were represented by sticks. 




Fig. 17. 
Then follows the square, parallelogi-am, 
rhomboid ; diagonals may be drawn and the 
foi-ms shown in Figs. 1-10 be produced. 
The possibility of representing the most mani- 
fold fonns of knowledge, of Ufe and of beauty 
is reached, and the forms produced may be 
used for other purposes. The child may pro- 



Fig. 19. Fig. 20. 

In the working with peas, the wires represent 
edges, the peas serve as corners, and tLese 
skeleton bodies are so much more instructive, 
as they allow the observation of the outer 
forms in their outUnes and the inner sti'ucture 
and being of the body, at the same time. 
The child unites two equilateral triangles by 



240 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



three equally long wires, and forms thereby a 
prism, (Fig. 13); four equilateral triangles 
give the three-sided pyramid ; eight of them, 
the octahedron. (Figs. 14 and 15). 

From two equal squares, united by four 
wirea of the length of the sides, the skeleton 
cube, Fig. 16, is formed; if the uniting wires 
are longer than the sides of the square, the 
foui'-sided column (Fig. 17); if one of the 
squares is larger than the other, a topless pyra- 
mid will be produced, etc. Fig. 18, shows a 
combination of cubes. 

It is hardly possible that pupils of the 
Kindergarten should make any fmlher prog- 




Fig. 21. 
ress in the formation of these mathematical 
forms of crystallization, as the representation 
of the many-sided bodies, and especially this 
development of one from another, requires 
greater care and skill than should be expected 
at such an early period of life. It will be re- 
served for the primary, and even a higher 
grade of school, to proceed farther on the road 
indicated, and in this manner prepare the 
pupil for a clear understanding of regular 
bodies. 

This, however, does not exclude the con- 
struction by the more advanced pupils of the 
kindergarten, of simple objects, in their sur- 
roundings, such as benches, (Fig. 19), chairs, 
(Fig. 20), baskets, etc., or to try to invent 
other objects. 



Whoever has himself tried peas-work, will be 
convinced of its utility. Great care, and much 
patience, are needed to produce a somewhat 
complicated object ; but a successful structure 
repays the child for all painstaking and per- 
severance. By this exercise, the pupils im- 
prove in readiness of construction, and this is 
an important preparation for organization. 

More advanced pupils try also, successfully, 
to construct letters and numerals, with the 
material of this gift. 




Fig. 22. 
The bodies produced by peas work may be 
used as models in the modeling department. 
The one occupation is the complement of the 
other. The skeleton cube allows the observa- 
tion of the qualities of the solid cube, in 
greater distinctness. The image of the body 
becomes in this manner more perfect and clear, 
and above all, the child is led upon the road, 
on which alone he is enabled to come into 
possession of a true knowledge and correct 
estimate of things ; the road on which he learns, 
not only to observe the external appearance 
of things, but in the meantime, and always 
to look at theu' internal being. 



EDITOR'S NOTES. 



The outline solids made in the peas work 
are merely the forerunners of the wire models 
now so highly prized by all teachers of draw- 
ing, in illustrating the elementary principles of 
perception. As the more elaborate forms can 
only be made by the more advanced pupils of 
the kindergarten, they may be rendered valu- 
able in imparting these same principles to the 



kindergarten pupils in their drawing exercises, 
even though these pupils are not able to very 
correctly represent the forms in their drawing. 

Various substitutes for soaked peas have 
been suggested and tried, as cork cubes and 
clay pellets used while soft, but still good peas 
are usually preferred. 

Instead of wire, thin, round sticks are used, 






PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



241 



■which, when sharpened at the ends, are not so 
liable to split the peas. 

In the first lesson give one dry pea and ask 
the children to tell you of other things which are 
of the same shape. Lead them back to the 
ball and develop various exercises which will 
recall the ideas of movabiUty,smoothness, hard- 
ness, roundness and dryness, then give each 
child a pea which has been soaked in water, 
and lead the class to a comparison of size and 
hardness. 

Call attention to the crease which divides 
the pea into halves, and show how readily the 
outer covering may be taken off. Give a talk 
on peas, how they are planted, how they sleep, 
are fed and watered, how they are awakened, 
drawing out the ideas of the children by va- 
rious questions. Have them lay designs with 
peas in the sand or on the peg boards. Let 



them outUne walks and flower beds, with stars, 
crosses and crescents in them. 

After the pea has been carefully studied give 
the children a stick and let them put a pea on 
one end of it, telling what they have made, 
then one on the other end, letting them always 
name and use what they make. 

When the children are ready add more sticks 
and peas, and as nearly all things made are 
built on geometric forms it is well that the 
pupils should first learn to make the square, 
oblong and triangle, then they will be able to 
construct many objects. 

Numberless life fonns may be built from 
this gift, as a garden with the various imple- 
ments, or a house and many pieces of furni- 
tm-e, the children feeling amply rewarded ia 
the results for the care and patience needed 
to construct these articles. 



THE TWENTIETH GIFT. 
]matp:rial for modeling. 



Modeling, or workiug in claj', held in high 
estimation by Frwbel, as an essential part of 
the whole of his means of education is, strange 
to say, much neglected in the Kindergarten. 
As the main objection to it named is that the 
children even with the greatest care, cannot 
prevent occasionally soiling their liands and 
their clothes. Others, again believe that an 
occupation, directlj" preparing for art, very 
rarely can be continued in life. They call it 
therefore, aimless pastime without favorable 
consequences, either for internal development 
or external happiness. 

If it must be admitted th.at the soiling of 
the hands and clothing cannot always be 
avoided, we hold that for this very reason, 
this occupation is a capital one, for it will give 
an opportunity to accustom the children to 
care, order and cleanliness, provided the 
teacher herself takes care to develop the sense 
of the pupils, for these virtues, in connection 
with this occupation ; as on all other oc- 
casions, she should strive to excite the sense 
of cleanliness as well as purity. Certainly, 
parts of the adhesive clay will stick to the little 
fingers and nails of the children, and their 
wooden knives, but, pray, what harm can 
grow out of this ? The child ma}' learn even 
from this fact. It may ))e remarked in con- 
nection with it, that the callous hand of the 
husbandman, the dirty blouse of the mechanic, 
oulj' show the occupation, and cannot take 
aught from the inner worth of a man. As re- 
gards the objection to this occupation as aim- 
less and without result, it should be considered 
that occupation with the beautiful, even in its 
crudest beginnings, always bears good fruit, 
l)ecause it prepares the individual for a true 
appreciation and noble enjoyment of the same. 
Just in this the significance of Froebel's educa- 
tional idea partly rests, that it strives to open 
every human heart for the beautiful and good 
— that it particularly is intended to elevate the 
social position of the laboring classes, by means 
of education not only in regard to knowledge 
and skill, but also, in regard to development 
of refinement and feeling. 

Representing, imitating, creating, or trans- 
forming in general, is the child's greatest en- 



joyment. Bread-crumbs are modeled by him 
into balls, or objects of more complicated form- 
and even when biting bits from his cooky, it 
is the child's desire to produce form. If a 
piece of wax, putty or other pliable matter, 
falls into his hands, it is kneaded until it as- 
sumes a form, of which they may assert that 
it represents a baby, — the dog Roamer, or 
what not ! Wet sand, they press into their 
little cooking utensils, when playing "house- 
keeping," and pass off the forms as puddings, 
tarts, etc ; in one word most children are born 
sculptors. Could this fact have escaped Fros- 
bel's keen observation ? He has provided the 
means to satisfy this desire of the child, to de- 
velop also this talent in its very awakening. 

According to Froebel's principle, the first 
exercises in modeling are representation of the 
fourteen stereometric fundamental forms of 
crystallization, which he presents in a box, by 
themselves, as models. Starting tromthe cube 
the e>/h'ii(h'r follows — then the sphere, pyramid 
with three, four and six sides, the 2rri.'<m in its 
various formations of planes, the octahedron 
or decahedron and cosahedron, or bodies with 
eight, twelve and twenty equal sides or faces, 
etc. However interesting and instructive this 
course may be, we prefer to begin with some- 
what simpler performances, lea\ing this branch 
of this department for future time. 

The child receives a small quantity of clay, 
(wax may also be used), a wooden knife, a 
small board, and a piece of oiled paper, on 
which he performs the work. If clay is used, 
this material should be kept in wet rags, in a 
cool place, and the object formed of it, dried 
in the sun, or in a mildly-heated stove, and 
then coated with gum arable, or varnish, which 
gives them the api^earance of crockery. 

First the child forms a sphere, from which 
he may produce manj' objects. If he attaches 
a stem to it, it is a cherrj- ; if he adds depres- 
sions and elevations, which represent the dried 
calj'x, it will look like an apple ; from it the 
pear, nut, potato, a head, may be molded, 
etc. Many small balls made to adhere to 
one another, maj' produce a bunch of grapes, 
(Figs. 1-6). 

From the ball or sphere, a cylindrical body 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



243 



may be formed, (Fig. 6), by rolling on the 
board, usually called by the children a loaf of 
bread, a caudle, loaf of sugar, etc. 

A bottle, (Fig. 8), a bag, (Fig. 9), filled 
with flour or something else, can also easily be 
produced. 







Fig. 4. Fig. 5. 

animals and human beings, houses, churches, 
birds' nests, etc. If this occupation is intended 
to be more than mere entertainment, it is neces- 
sary to guide the activity of the child in a de- 
finite direction. 






Fig. 6. 
The best 



Fig. 7. Fig. 8. 

dii'ectiou to be followed in Froe- 



resents it easily, if perhaps not exactly true. 
By pressing and assisted by his knife, the 
one plane of the sphere is changed to several 
planes, corners, and edges, which produces the 
cube. If the child changes its corners to 
planes (indicated in Fig. 12), afoi-m of four- 
teen sides is produced. If this process is con- 
tinued so that the planes of the cube are 



Fig. 1. H Fig. 2. Fig. 3. 

Very soon the child will present the 

cube, (Fig. 11), an old acquaintance and play- 
mate. From it, he produces a house, a bos, a 
cofifee mill and similar things. Soon other fonns 
of life will grow into existence, as plates, dishes. 




C\ 



Fia;. 9. 



O 



Fig. 10. 



changed to corners, the octahedrou is the result, 
(Fig. 13). By continued change of edges to 
planes and of planes to corners, the most im- 
portant regular forms of crystallization will be 
produced, which occupation, however, as men- 
tioned before, belongs rather to a higher grade 
of school, and is, therefore, better postponed 
until after the Kindergarten training. 

Some regular bodies are more easOy formed 
from the cylinder, the mediation between the 




Fig. 11. 

sphere and cube. By a pressure of the hand> 
or by means of his knife, the child changes the 
one round plane to three or four planes, and 
as many edges, producing thereby the prism 
aud the four-sided column. 

If we reduce the circular surface of one end 
of the cylinder to a point at its center, and 



bel's occupations is that for the development connect this point with the cii'cumference of the 
of regular fonns of bodies. The fundamental other end with a cui-ved siuface, we have a 
form, of course, is the sphere. The child rep- cone. If we change this new conical surface 



244 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



to a number of plane triangles we shall have 
for a base a polygon and the curved surface 
reduced to several triangles. If we act in the 
same manner with the other end of the cylin- 
der, we may form a double cone, and from it 
we may produce a double pyramid. If again 
we take the cylinder and change its circular 
edges to a definite number of planes, we again 
have the sphere. 





Fig. 12. Fig. 13. 

Well fonned specimens may, to acquke 
greater durabiUty, be treated as indicated pre- 
viously. The production of forms and figures 
from soft and pliable material belongs, un- 
doubtedly, to the earliest and most natural 
occupations of the human race, and has served 
all plastic arts as a starting-point. The occu- 
pation of modeling, then, is eminently fit to 
carry into practice Froebel's idea that children, 
in their occupations, have to pass through all 
the general grades of development of human 
cultnre in a diminished scale. The natural 
talent of the future architect or sculptor, lying 
dormant in the child, must needs be called forth 
and developed by this occupation, as by a self- 
acting and inventing construction and forma- 
tion, all innate talents of the child are made 
to grow into visible reality. 



If we now cast a retrospective look upon 
the means of occupation in the Kindergarten 
we find that the material progresses from the 
solid and whole, in gradual steps to its parta, 
until it arrives at the image upon the plane, 
and its conditions as to line and point. For 
the heavy material, fit only to be placed upon 
the table in unchanged form (the building 
blocks) , a more flexible one is substituted in 
the following occupations : Wood is replaced 
hy paper. The paper ^^tone of the folding occu- 
pation, is replaced by the paper strip of the 
wea^^ng occupation, as line. The wooden 
stick, or very thin loire, is then introduced for 



the purpose of executing permanent figures in 
connection with peas, representing the pjoint. 
In place of this material the drawu line then 
appears, to which colors are added. Perforat- 
ing and embroidering introduces another 
addition to the material to create the images 
of fantasy, which, in the paper cutting and 
mounting, again receive new elements. 

The modeling in clay, or wax, affords the 
immediate plastic artistic occupation, with the 
most pliable material for the hand of the child. 
Song introduces into the realm of sound, when 
movement plays, gymnastics and dancing, help 
to educate the body, and insure a harmonious 
development of all its parts. In practicing 
the technical manual performances of the 
mechanic, such as boring, piercing, cutting, 
measuring, uniting, forming, drawing, paint- 
ing and modeling, a fouudation of all future 
occupation of artisan and artist — sj'nonymous 
in past centuries — is laid. For ornamentation 
especially, all elements are found in the occu- 
pations of the Kindergarten. The forms of 
beauty in the paper-folding, serve as series 
of rosettes and ornaments in relief, as archi- 
tecture might employ them, without change. 
The productions in the braiding department 
contain all conditions of artistic weaving, nor 
does the cutting of figures fail to afford richest 
material for ornamentation of various kinds. 

For every talent in man means of develop- 
ment are prox-ided in the Kindergarten ma- 
terial, opportunity for practice is constantly 
given, and each direction of the mind finds its 
starting-point in concrete things. No more 
complete satisfaction, therefore can be given 
to the claim of modern pedagogism, that all 
ideas should be founded on previous percep- 
tion derived from real objects, than is done in 
the genuine Kindergarten. 

Whosoever has acquired even a superficial 
idea only of the significance of Frajbel's 
means of occupation in the Kindergarten, 
will be ready to admit that the ordinary play- 
things of children cannot, by any means, as 
regards their usefulness, be compared with 
the occupation material in the Kindergarten. 
That the foiTner may, in a certain degree, be 
made helpful in the development of children, 
is not denied ; occasional good results with 
them, however, most always will be found to 
be owing to the child's own instinct rather 
than to the nature of the toy. Planless play- 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



245 



ino;, without guidance and supen-ision, cannot 
prepare a child for the earnest side of life as 
well as for the enjoyment of its harmless 
amusements and pleasuies. Like the plant, 
which, in the wilderness even, draws from the 
soil its nutrition, so the child's mind draws 
from its surroundings and the means, placed 
at its command, its educational food. But 
the rosebush, nursed and cared for in the 
garden by the skillful horticulturist produces 
flowers, far more perfect and beautiful than 
the wild growing sweet briar. Without care 
neither mind nor body of the child can be ex- 
pected to prosper. As the latter cannot, for 
a healthful development, use all kiuds of food 
without careful selection, so the mind for its 
higher cultivation requires a still more careful 
choice of the means for its development. The 
child's free choice is limited only in so far as 
it is ne(!essary to limit the amount of oc- 
cupation material in order to fit him for sys- 
tematic application. The child will find instinc- 
tively all that is requisite for his mental 
growth, if the propei- material only be presented 
and a guiding mind indicate its most appro- 



priate use in accordance with a certain law. 

Froebel's genius has admirably succeeded in 
inventing the proper mateiial as well as in 
pointing out its most successful application to 
prepare the child for all situations in future 
life, for all branches of occupation in the use- 
ful pursuits of mankind. 

When the Kindergarten was first established 
by him, it was prohibited in its original form 
and its inventor driven from place to place in 
his fatherland on account of his liberal educa- 
tional principles, which he wanted to have car- 
ried out in the Kindergarten. Tlie keen eye of 
monarchial government officials quickly saw 
that such institutions could not turn out will- 
ing subjects to tyrannical oppression, and the 
rulers ''by the grace of God," tolerated the Kin- 
dergarten, only when public opinion'declared 
too strongly in its favor. 

In pleading the cause of the Kindergarten 
on the soil of republican America, is it asking 
too much that all may help in extending to 
the future generation the benefits which may 
be derived from an institution so eminently 
fit to educate free citizens of a free country r 



EDITOR'S NOTES. 



In accordance with the general scheme of 
this book the few simple illustrations accom- 
panying the text of the original edition are 
reproduced. Owing to the influence of the kin- 
dergarten the advance in educational thought 
in America during the past thirty-five yesTrs, 
has been so gi-eat that no argument is now nec- 
essary to con\-ince progressive teachers that 
clay modeling should have a prominent place 
in primary instruction, and with the promotion 
of this occupation to the high place which it holds 
in the modern kindergarten, has come the pub- 
lication of suggestions and instructions for this 
work which are of great value, and are given 
more in detail than the space in this book will 
allow. Among these excellent hand-books 
perhaps none holds a higher place than "Clay 
Modeling in the Schoolroom" by Ellen Stephen 
Hildreth, who is a practical kindergartner and 
therefore handles her subject strictly according 
to kindergarten principles, although the work is 
carried somewhat further than may be possible 
during the kindergarten years. The methods 
of this author, as shown in an exhibit of kin- 
dergarten work sent from St. Louis to the Paris 



Exposition and afterward presented to Madam 
Marenholtz Von Bulow, received her unquali- 
fied endorsement which was expressed in a letter 
to Mrs. Hildreth at the time. In the opening 
sentences of the first chapter of "Clay Model- 
ing in the Schoolroom" the author says : 

"Modeling in clay is valuable educationally 
because it enables us to comprehend and re- 




Fig. 14. 
'j)roduce ideas of form. AVith such knowledge 
we convert raw material to our use. It is also 
valuable as a stimulus to observation, develop, 
ing through reproduction the faculties of class- 



246 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



iflcation and generalization. The art of model- 
ing deals with uuisersal types of form, modi- 
fied, blended and combined. These types are 
the curved solids, and in the following pages 
a definite method is given by which educators 
may utilize modeling in the discipline of the 
mind, at an age when sense impressions are 
strongest." 




Fig. 15. 
In accoi"dance with a definite scheme the 
lessons are based on seven geometrical forms, 
the Sphere, Oblate Spheroid, Prolate Spheroid, 




Ovoid, Cone, Cylinder, and Cube in the order 

named, which aie designated as Normal Types. 

This general classification is subdi%'ided into 




Fig. 17. 
several series, one for each Normal Type. In the 
first series, the first Normal Type is the Sphere, 
and the typical objects are sugar-bowl, Fig. 14, 
lunch-basket Fig. 15, and globe fish. Fig. IG. 



The second Normal Type in this series is the 
Hemisphere. Typical objects, toadstool, Fig. 
17, Nelly Bly cap. Fig. 18. 

The third Normal Type, is a Circle. Typi- 
cal objects, sewing-basket. Fig. 19, bird's- 
nest, Fig. 20. 

A similar series is based on each of the 
above-named seven geometrical forms, and ex- 
plicit instructions given for the treatment of 




Fig. 18. 

each subject, with illustrations so that other 
forms and other typical objects can be handled 
intelligently fiom the directions furnished. For 
material the best artist's clay is most desirable 
and can be obtained from all dealers in kin- 
dergarten material or from potteries, if near at 




Fig. 19. 

hand. In such case ask for unmixed, washed 
clay. Clay prepared for firing is usually unfit 
for modeling. Mrs. Hildreth's instructions for 
preparing the clay are as follows : — 

"If the clay is dry, in lumps or powder, tie 
it up in a large cloth, as if it were a pudding. 
Place the cloth f uU of clay in a vessel, and pour 




Fig. 20. 
In water enough to cover the clay. After one or 
two hour's immersion take out the cloth full of 
clay, and, without untying, knead thoroughly 
until the mass seems plastic, and perfectly free 
from lumps. Open the cloth and examine it 
from time to time while kneading it. If too 
wet allow it to dry off, if too dry return to tho 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



247 



water. When properly kneaded it ■will have a 
springy feeling under the fingers, and when 
rubbed smooth will glisten as if oily. It must 
not be wet enough to be sticky, or dry enough 
to feel hard to the touch. A little practice will 
enable the teacher to tell when it is just right. 
When worked into an elastic mass, replace in 
the empty pail the clay which is still in the 
cloth, and cover with several other folds of wet 



of fine box-wood modeling tools, but these are 
not necessary for elementary work, although a 
few simple tools or knives are quite desirable, 
and Figs. 21 and 22 illustrate two which 
seem to cover in very simple forms the princi- 
pal requisites. 



^ 



c 



.^ 



Fig. 21. 

cloth. This keeps it in good condition. After 
each exercise any remnants or broken objects 
from previous exercises may be thoroughly wet 
and replaced in the cloth, at one side, in order 
that they may be softened and ro-kueaded. In 
this way no clay is wasted." 

The clay as sold is usually in five pound, dry 
or six pound moist bricks, or in a powder. 
The most convenient form is dust-tight paper 
boxes of powder containing five pounds each. 

Artists in plastic materials use a great variety 



Fig. 22. 

Fie. 21 is a spatula or knife with a blade 
sharpened on both edges and rounded on the 
end, and a handle terminating in a point which 
is very useful in many operations. 

Fio'. 22 is somewhat similar in shape but 
provided at the blade-end with a sen-ated edge 
for leveling down a flat surface of clay when 
it is required for a base or other i)urpose. 

In this tool the end of the handle is formed 
to a blunt rounded point which is very useful in 
many cases. Each of these tools is about six 
inches long and with them a very large variety of 
work can be done successfully 



THE KINDERGATEN GAMES. 



In the whole world of nature nothing de- 
velops without acti^•ity, consequently play or 
the exercising of the child's activity is the first 
means of development of the human mind, the 
means by wliich the child is to become ac- 
quainted with the outer world and his own pow- 
ers of body and mind. Watching the play of 
children Froebel found it was a spontaneous 
God-given acti\ity, by which they were surely 
but unconsciously educating themselves, getting 
their first knowledge of duty and the truths of 
life through play. The games which are the 
organized plays, and the very life of tlie kin- 
dergarten,give the child the means of ex})ression 
through the activities of the body, so that he 
can reproduce his iudi\ndual life, for while in 
the occupations and gifts the children reproduce 
with their hands, in the games they enter into 
the life and act out what they wish to repre- 
sent and for the time being are really these 
things, whether it be birds, trees, flowers, stars 
or water, thus developing and cultivating the 
imagination. 

Every way which exists of expressing the 
inner life through the outer enriches us, and 



in the games the cluld gives forth freely all 
which he has taken in, and having thus made the 
unity which he sees and comprehends he be- 
comes fnlly conscious of it, and his whole life, 
inner and outer, is lifted to a higher plane. By 
means of the directed games the surplus energy 
of the child may be guided, the basis for study 
laid and the foundation principles in chemistry, 
physics, geometry, construction and design fur- 
nished, thus utiUzing his activities for an 
educational purpose.* 

The community spirit is fostered as the child 
finds he is only one of many, and that each one 
has his part to do to make the many happy and 
useful. It is also an aid to self-government, 
for through play he learns that certain effects 
follow certain causes, and in all that he does 
the child feels constant freedom under law and 
soon finds the closer he follows tlie law the 
more freedom he has. Thus the will of the child 
is guided and strengthened, and principles of 
justice, honesty and kindness are inculcated. 

The games representing the trades show 
ideas of labor and trade and our dependence 
upon them. The child is in turn a shoemaker, 



* Read "The present point of view of the plays and games of the kindergarten," Mary Boomer Page, in 
"The Elementary' School Teacher," March, 1909. The lengths to which some kindergartners have extended the 
claims and value of geometrical ideas is clearly shown in the closing lines of tliis paragraph. The play spirit 
is being kept to the front and simple dramatizing which appeals to the imagination. 



248 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



a farmer, a baker, a blacksmith, and is thus 
brought into relations with the universal ac- 
tivities of the race and gains a respect for 
those who do in reality what he does in play. 
Such play broadens a child's view of life and 
creates an intelligent interest in the lives of 



Each little pair of children's feet 
May help us to make our ring complete. 
So this is the way that we form our ring, 
Tra la la la la la." 

— Song Stories in the Kindergarten. 
Thus an unbroken circle is formed which has 



many classes of workers, as he sees the skill, its ethical significance in the fact that no indi- 
patience, and perseverance required on the vidual is more prominent than another, is but a 
part of these workers. Thus the intellectual part of a perfect whole, yet is responsible in 



nature is strengthened and developed and also 
the physical, as the games exercise and give 
more perfect control of the body, as well as 
grace and directness of movement. The physi- 
cal being is brought into activity, different sets 
of muscles being constantly used, until all 
parts of the body fire engaged in active play. 
Children need to be free iu thought and action, 



This song may be 



himself for that whole, 
followed by another, as :- 

" See the children on our ring. 

Joining in our soug ; 
They together form our ring, 
Standing straight and strong." 

—Song Stories in the Kindergarten. 
Then the kindergartner advances to the cen- 



and as the child imitates the activities about ter of the circle, or bows to some child to do so, 
him his eu^ironment cannot lie overrated. We while all sing: — 



should gain the same freedom in our bodies to 
express clearly and simply the more mature 
ideas in our minds, so that we may always 
meet the little child on his own plane and from 
there lead him step by ste]) to clearer sight and 
appreciatn^.n of the laws we wish to teach. 

Through the dramatic representation of sun, 
moon and stars and all plant and animal life 
the child is brought into sympathy and acquaint- 
ance with nature, and what he imitates he learns 
to uiiderstaud and love. Thus nature grows 



" Let us look at • 



So happy and gay, 
Let us look at 



What does she now play ? " 
The child in the center then imitates by ges- 
ture the game she desires to play, and at the 
close of the play she chooses another child to 
take her place in the center of the circle, and 
so on, each new leader upon her entrance to the 
center being greeted with the above song. 
This is l)ut a simple illustration of one way of 
dearer and the child's conception of all these opening the games and should not be followed 
newly-made friends more beautiful and vivid, literally, but be subject to the individu- 
awakening iu him a spiritual truth which leads ality of the teacher. The games should re- 
him to trace all life back to its source, making fleet the prevailing thought of the day or week 
this the means of spiritual culture. There is or season of the year, and the children should 
nothing that cannot be made real to the child be made familiar with the life and work of the 
through games, and any truth may be impressed things they represent by means of pictures and 
upon him that is a vital and necessary one. talks and they will readily give spontaneous ex- 

When the time for the games arrives the chil- pression to their conceptions of the subject, 
dren sit with folded hands listening for a chord At the indication of the slightest disturbing 
from the piano, which is a signal to stand, element, a chord from the piano will instantly 
Another chord is struck and the children see change the children into animals, birds, or a 
how quietly they can put their chairs up to the running stream, thus expressing nature and 
table. Still another chord, and they turn and restoring harmony at once, 
form in marching line, singing a simple melody. Let the games be spontaneous, merely allow 
as : — and guide the play spirit, keeping the child un- 

"We'll march and march and march around, conscious by making the thing he does promi- 
And marching gaily sing," etc., nent and not the child. If the child does not 

until they are in good line, then joining hands choose wisely, by questioning and careful sug- 
gestions the kindergartner can usually get 
him to select a more suitable game, and all 
Working together we gaily sing, ^^^_ games played can be woven into a whole 

Tra la la la la la. which gives afeeling of unity and completeness. 

Froebel was very informal in playing game.s, and would start a game bv saving, "Come, children, let ua 
dance and sing." See cliapter on tlie "Life of Froebel." 

Many kindergartners prefer the less formal method as conducive to a genuine play spirit. The children 
fall into a ring gradually as they do when playing at home or on the street. They learn self control better than 
by constantly following external signals. If a chord is struck, it should be preceded bv a run on the piano as a 
preparatory guide, and the chord should not be loud or sudden, as otherwise it tends to produce a startled 
movement. 



Sing :— 

" This is the way that we form our ring, 

Tra la la la tra la la la. 



A FEW SUGGESTIONS ABOUT TEACHING LITTLE CHILDREN 

TO SING. 



1. Sing softly. "A voice that has acquired 
power at the expense of quality is sure to be 
abnormal." 

2. Have two or three minutes' " daily drill with 
lips pursed well forward. Begin on E flat in 
the fourth space of the staff. Sing the descend- 
ing scale softly on the syllable hoo." Illustrate 
position of lips by blowing on the tip of the 
finger. Later use moo, loo, mo, etc. 

3. Restrict compass in rote songs; keep within 
the staff. 

4. Sing to the children, not with them. Let 
them sing to you. Often sing lullabies to them. 
Let them "make up" musical phrases. Com- 
pose "piano stories" based on the scale. Going 
upstairs; coming down, running, tired or heavy 
footsteps. 

5. Train children to listen to different notes 
of the piano, to other musical sounds, as pitch- 
pipe, etc. Play "echo," the child repeating the 
teacher's call of two or three notes. 

6. Sing quickly and cheerfully. Let voices 
skip. Do not drag. " Do not disturb the swing 
of the rhythm." 

7. Have thought control expression. Sing the 
song as a whole story to the children. Do not 
analyze too much. Choose short songs with 
simple words and with repetitions. 



Speak words very distinctly in singing to the 
children. Let children sing after you, learning 
words and tune together, phrase by phrase, or 
line by line. Correct such mispronunciations 
as Christmus, childrun, etc. 

8. Use the words of the songs during the day 
in conversation. 

9. Do not sing too many of the same songs 
from year to year. You tire of them if the 
children do not. 

10. Accustom children to sing alone, just as 
they speak individually. 

1 1 . Require children to sit or stand well. 

12. To make the lips mobile in speaking, 
imitate sounds of animals frequently; have 
simple phonic exercises, as making sounds of 
ch, sh, p, f, m, r, v, wh, th, playfully. 

13. Practise occasionally pantomime speaking 
and singing, also humming. 

14. Do not expect children to do too many 
things at once. Notice effect of movement, 
marching, carrying chairs, etc., upon the quahty 
of the voice. Children should not sing while 
playing active games. Those standing still may 
do so. 

15. Read prefaces in all your song books. 



PART III. 

LIFE OF FRIEDRICH FROEBEL. 

By henry W. BLAKE, A.M. 



INTRODUCTION TO THE LIFE OF FROEBEL. 



One of the principal reasons for studying any 
subject is to gain tlic power of thiukiug ana- 
lytically about it. To do this it may be nec- 
essary to acquire many facts pertaining to that 
subject, but after all this preliminary work 
has been done the knowledge of those facts 
■will prove of but comparatively little conse- 
quence unless we understand and appreciate 
their co-relation. Consequently the argument 
for a careful study of Fra'bel's life as essen- 
tial to the understanding cf the kindergarten 
system, both in its theory and practice, is 
based on the broad proposition that whoever 
aspires to understand any system of philoso- 
phy, ethics or education must be able to 
think analytically al)ont it. AVhile all earnest 
students of Fro-bel's sj-steni realize the more 
thoroughly they pursue it that they have a 
life work in hand, there are unquestionably 
certain methods of study that will become 
especially helpful when applied to tliis sul)ject, 
just as there are in all lines of mental inves- 
tigation. And now we come to the general 
principle that one cannot understand the 
philosophy of any man who is really great 
without becoming familiar with his career, 
with the procession of events which, taken 
together, have made up his life. 

The author once had the pleasure of listening 
to an address by a distinguished judge regard- 
ing the aims and methods of Bible study in 
which he maintained that primary investigation 
of historical facts is essential to the successful 
comprehension of any principles, doctrines, or 
theories which i)ertain to those facts. If we 
wish to put ourselves in touch with the teach- 
ings of Christ so that they shall become a lamp 
to our feet and a guide to our path, we must 
make ourselves familiar with His life, so that, 
as far as is possible, we may live as He lived, 
and feel as He felt. And the same may be said 
of other great men for whom no claim of di- 
vinity has ever been made, but who have been 
pioneers in the fields of spiritual, nteatal or 
material activity. 



It would seem, however, that tnis principle 
of facts Itefore theories has not been the prev- 
alent one on the part of students acd teachers. 
The judge just quoted admitted that it took 
him many years in his private study of the 
Bible to discover that this method is the nat- 
ural one, and there is reason to fear that the 
average teacher is very apt to give his pupils 
principles and theories without being careful 
to present to them the biographical facts which 
so often lie behind those principles and theo- 
ries. In other words, we are encouraged and 
compelled to read Caesar's commentaries, re- 
gardless of our preWous acquaintance with 
Ciesar. Coming to the particular application 
of the ai-gument, are we not forced to admit 
that the accurate acquaintance with the events 
of Fra^bel's life among students of the kinder- 
garten system has been left somewhat to acci- 
dent, such study being taken uji at any time in 
the course when it was most convenient for 
the teacher, and not alwaj's with the system- 
atic application which a'one insui'es the best 
results ? 

Friedrieh Fra?bel lived a peculiar life and 
inaugurated a peculiar educational system, and 
it is pre-eminently true that we must study 
that life In order to comprehend that system, 
to say nothing of acquiring the ability to teach 
it. If we admit the truth of this statement, 
it follows that the study of Fra'bel's life should 
begiu at the opening of the kindergarten 
course. 

If we are to undertake such study, the 
question arises. Into what periods does the 
life of Froebel naturally divide itself ? Speak- 
ing in a general way, the answer is : Into three 
periods, Froebel as a Student, as a Teacher, 
as a Kindergartner. Of course these periods 
overlai) each other in various ways. He was 
alwaj-s a student, from the earliest hours of 
his conscious existence in the lonely parson- 
age of Oberweisbach to his dying days at 
Marienthal. He became a teacher iong before 
his professional studies ended and continued 



254 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



teaching till liis latest breath. The germ of 
the kincleigarteu idea came to him with the 
prattling speech of babyhood and to perfect it 
was the loving labor of the rest of his days. 
But for purposes of classification we may re- 
gard him as a student from his birth in 1782 
to 1816 ; a teacher from 1816 to 1837 ; and a 
kindergartner from 1837 to 1852, a span which 
completes the seventy years of his life. 

If the division named above is correct it 
gives us our point of view from which to study 
Frcebel. We are to consider him as a stu- 
dent, as a teacher, as a kindergartner. We 
are to ask ourselves what his life iu these dif- 
ferent capacities contributed to the kindergar- 
ten, and the object of such an investigation is 
not to satisfy idle curiosity, but to put our- 
selves in a position where we can understand 
his educational system, otherwise we cannot 
make any just claim to comprehending it. 

In compiling this work the author has con- 
sulted the common authorities within reach of 
the American student aud also some that arc 
out of the usual course. The translation of 
Frcvbel's autobiographical letter to the Duke of 
Meiningen by Miss Lucy Wheelock of Boston, 
as published in Dr. Barnard's "Kindergarten 
and Child Culture Pai)ers," has been relied on 
to furnish the thread of the narrative from 
1782 till 1815. The other translation of this 
letter by Emilie Michaelis and H. Keatley 
Moore, which forms a part of their "Autobio- 
graphy of Friedrich Fra'bel," published by C. 
W. Bardeen of Syracuse, N. Y., has been 
found valuable in throwing light on this same 
period, particularly through the foot notes. 
This book also contains a long extract from 
another letter of Fra'bel, written to Friedrich 
Kranse, the eminent philosopher, which is a 
^e^^ew of his life from infancy down to the year 
1828, so that by consulting these two letters we 
get an account in Fra-bel's own words of his 
career for forty-six years, or nearly till the 
time when he relinquished his principalship at 
Keilhau. 

For what happened iu Switzerland we are 
dependent on B.irop's article on "Critical Mo- 
ments in the Life of Frcebel," a different trans- 
lation of which appears in each of the books al- 
ready named. Then for the intervening pe- 
riod between the establishment of the first 
kindergarten at Blankenburg and the residence 
.at Liebenstein we depend largely on "Frcebel's 



Letters," edited by Arnold H. Heinemann and 
published by Lee & Shepard of Boston, and 
"The Story of My Life" by Georg Ebers, trans- 
lated by Mary J. Safford and published by D. 
Appleton & Co. of New York. These books 
do not give the continuous story of Froebel's 
wanderings and the gradual development of 
the one idea of his life from 1837 to 1849, but 
they do contain suggestions and pen-pictures 
by which it is possilile to piece out the narra- 
tive so that it can be readily understood and 
appreciated. 

There are other articles to be considered, 
most of them being translations from Dr. 
Wichard Lange's "For the Understanding of 
Frcebel," reproduced in the Barnard book. 
From 1849 to the time of Froebel's death the 
world for the most part relies on "Reminis- 
cences of Friedrich Frcebel" by Baroness Von 
Marenholtz-Bulow, translated by Mrs. Horace 
Maun and pulilished by Lee & Shepard, Bos- 
ton. A little pamphlet " Reminiscences of 
Friedrich Frojbel," by Frau Frwbel, published 
by the Chicago Kindergarten College, is also 
very helpful in supplementing the account of the 
Baroness, and for an account of the last days of 
the great apostle of tiie new education we are 
indebted to the translation of a pamphlet pub- 
lished l)y Middeudorf immediately after the 
death of his friend. "Frcebel and Education by 
Self- Activity," by H. C. Bowen, pubhshed by 
Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, adds some- 
what to the story, and so does "Friedrich Frce- 
bel, How He Became an Educator," by Frau 
Elsie Von Calcar. This book was originally 
written in Dutch and then translated into Ger- 
man, although no English translation has ever 
been published. In compiling the concluding 
pages regarding the jn'ogress of the kindergar- 
ten movement since Fra^bel's death the author 
is indebted to "The Pratt Institute Monthly," 
"The Kindergarten News" and "The Kintler- 
garten Magazine" for data. To all authors and 
publishers who have helped him in any way he 
desires to make grateful acknowledgement. 

The pictures illustrating the narrative were 
made expressly for this book. The portrait of 
Frwbel is copied from a picture taken from 
the oil painting which hangs in the school- 
house at Oberweisbach by H. Euders, a mem- 
ber of the Royal Academy at Dresden, who 
painted it from an engraving on steel. The 
copy of the portrait is known as the "jubilee 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



255 



picture," having been selected by a committee 
of gentlemen appointed to choose a picture to 
be published at the time of the celebration of 
Froebel's one hundredth birthday, in 1882. It 
is regarded as an excellent likeness by those 
people in Germanj' most competent to judge. 
The picture of Frwbel's birthplace, of the \'il- 
lage as seen from the top of the Memorial 
Tower, in which the church is such a promi- 
nent feature, and the view of the tower itself 
were taken by special representatives of the 
publishers of this book for reproduction here, 
and they give a clear and adequate idea of the 
surroundings of his early days. 

The pictures of the house at Marienthal, 
where Frojbel died, of the monument in the lit- 
tle wood adjoining that house and of the tomb- 
stone over the grave at Schweina were also 
taken for exclusive use here. In regard to 
the tombstone picture it is proper to say that 
because the photographs and woodcuts which 
have previously been brought from Europe by 
kindergartners and other tourists have shown 
such unmistakable proofs that they were made 
from drawings, and not from the tombstone and 
its natural surroundings, the publishers for- 
warded one of them to their agent in Germany 
with an inquiry about its authenticity. As a re- 
sult the picture was returned without comment, 
except the word "fantasm," penciled on the 
back. Concerning the picture here presented it 
is proper to say that owing to the crowded con- 
dition of the buryiug ground a photograph of 
the monument which is entirely satisfactory 
cannot be secured, and that in this direct front 
view the symbolical cylinder and cube neces- 
sarily appear like one shaft or two similar forms 
of the same size. This picture is doubtless as 
good as could l)e secured under the circum- 
stances, and bears e%adence that it is from an 
original photograph and not the copy of an 



imaginative drawing. The portrait of Frau 
Frffibel is from a photograph taken about a 
dozen j'ears ago, while she was still in active 
service as a training teacher at Hamburg. It 
was presented to Miss Louise M. Steinweg, 
now of Pittsburg, Pa., when she graduated 
from the training class, and was loaned by her 
to the publishers. The map used to illustrate 
the theater of Fra-bel's life has been redrawn 
to fit the limits of this book from German 
maps, which can he relied on for their accuracy. 

So far as the author is aware this is the 
first biography of Froebel undertaking to cover 
his whole life, single newspaper articles ex- 
cepted, which has been published from the 
pen of an American. It is the outcome of a 
course of lectures delivered in the winter and 
spring of 1895, to the kindergarten depart- 
ments of the Springfield (Mass.) Industrial 
Institute and the State Normal School at 
New Britain, Coun. The author has aimed 
to tell the story as clearly as possible, so that 
the student can get a distinct idea of what 
Froebel was doing during each year of his life, 
^^■ithout any attempt to explain or inculcate the 
philosophy of the kindergarten. In putting to- 
gether the record free use has beeu made of 
every authority within reach that could throw 
any possible light on the story as a whole, or in 
its details. Now that the work is supposed to 
be done no one has a keener sense of its defects 
than the author, nor can any other person ap- 
preciate how much better it could be accom- 
plished were it to be done over again. 

Doubtless the comprehensive, erudite, and 
enlightening biography of Frosbel for Ameri- 
can readers, which they can thoroughly under- 
stand and delight in, is yet to be written. 
AVhen it is published the world will have a 
story of absorbing interest and convincing 
power. 



256 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



b Berlin 



iVitrenberg 



• Leipzig 



Riesa* 



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Erfurt 



Jena, 



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Central Germany 

COMPILED FOR 

PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD 

Milfon Bradley Go., 



Scalt of Miles. 



[Nuremberg' 



THE LIFE OF FROEBEL. 

1782— 1792-IN HIS FATHER'S HOUSE. 



The story of Friedrich FrcEbel's life begins 
at the village of Oberweisbach iu Central Ger- 
many, where he was born, April 21, 1782. 
It is located in what is commonly called the 
Thuringian Forest, a section of country which 
is triangular in shape, nearly one hundred 
miles on its longest side and from twenty-five 
to eighty in breadth. This region is not 
wholly a forest, as the name implies, but is a 
mountainous district within the borders of 
which there are many charming and romantic 
places ; so lovely that the tourist is fully re- 
paid for the trouble it takes to reach them. 
One such visitor tells us that the forest, al- 
though penetrated at various points by rail- 
roads, is for the most part accessible only 
by carriage roads and footpaths. The 
places are still picturesque, the ruins primitive 
and the life of the people simple and unspoiled. 
Within the "Forest" are mountains, some 
bare or tilled in patches, others covered with 
trees which form deep forests in which are 
found deer, wild boar and many other kinds 
of game. Again there are valleys large and 
small, ^^llages and towns, castles and ruins, 
and all sorts and conditions of men. Within 
the limits of this territory Frcebel spent most 
of his seventy years. 

Oberweisbach is located in the southern 
part of this district, thi-ee thousand feet above 
the sea level, ten miles north of Lauscha, 
the nearest railroad station on the main line 
running through the Forest to Schwartzburg. 
It is a delightful place for a summer sojourn, 
but the winter weather is exceedingly cold 
and the neighboring mountain roads are often 
blockaded for weeks by snow. It has a popu- 
lation of nineteen hundred, and the history 
of the settlement runs back to 1540. 

The house where Froebel was born is situ- 
ated on the main street of the \'illage, next to 
the "Golden Anchor," which is the principal 
hotel, and nearly opposite the church. It is of 



generous proportions, both the main structure 
and the L being Uvo stories high, while the 
former is surmounted with a high gambrel 
roof containing a doulile row of donner win- 
dows. Over the front door is a tablet giving 
the date of Frcebel's birth and death. The 
house is still occupied by the ^-illage pastor, 
as it was a hundred years ago, who is presi- 
dent of the local Frwbel society and who takes 
pleasure in showing to American ^^sitor8 the 
room where the great educator was born, 
together with various Fro?bel relics. 

To our minds the photograph of this house 
shows a substantial, cheerful home, with the 
gardens, ^•illage guide-board, watering-trough, 
telegi'aph poles, and lamp-post in the fore- 
gi'ound. But Froebel's remembrance of it was 
very different. He describes it as being close- 
ly surrounded by other buildings, walls, 
hedges and fences, and also enclosed by a 
courtyard and by grass and vegetable gar- 
dens, his entrance to which was severely 
punished. The dwelling had no other outlook 
than right and left on houses, in front on a 
large chm'ch, and behind on the grassy base of 
a high mountain. Another writer describes 
Frcebel's youthful environment in this way : 
' 'There was nothing in the dark lower part of 
the house, siuTOunded with Iniildiugs and walls, 
to captivate a child, and outside there was quite 
as little. There was no free prospect, which 
is so salutary for a child. In close proximity 
Ijefore the house stood the church, and Ijehind 
the house the ^-iew over the little kitchen 
garden was obsti'ucted by the steep rocky wall 
of a high hill. Only beyond the hill was a 
free outlook, and the boy did not fail to fre- 
quently raise his eyes to the blue heavens, 
which in the mountain regions are so clear and 
serene ; and this sight and the nishing wind 
from the hills through the little high-walled 
garden sometimes caused in him a kind of 
ecstasy which he remembered through life." 



258 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



Froebel's father was the village pastor, a 
learned, resolute, preoccupied, Lutheran 
clergyman. His mother, judging from the 
little that we can learn of her by inference, 
possessed a very mild and lovely character, 
rare insight, and sound, liberal ^^ews of life. 
He Ijelieved that he inherited from her his 
imaginative and artistic spirit. To these 
parents were born live sous, the eldest 
dying in infancy and the others growing 
to man's estate. Finedrich was the youngest, 
and after nursing him for nine months his 
invalid mother died. Writing of that event 
long after, the son says : "In that moment, 
when my dying mother kissed her highest 
benediction on brow and lips, the world took 
my tender being, so easily accessible to all 
influences, to lead me into the warfare of life, 
with all its miserj', its corruption and its 
deformity ; but the blessing of my dying 
mother remained with me, and the protecting 
angel who heard her last praj'er walked by 
and with me." 

It- is a pathetic story of those infantile 
years, which Frrebel tells himself, almost as 
much so as the early chapters of Da^^d Copper- 
field, in which Dickeus is supposed to recount 
the tale of his early life. Shut up in the 
gloomy parsonage most of the time and left 
to the care of the single housemaid and his 
own de\'ices, he seems to have lacked not 
ouly playfellows liut also playthings. Thus 
was his life in its beginning set to the strains 
of a minor key, and the refrain of its after 
years contained )>ut few livelier notes. But 
the solitude and want of companionship 
which fell to his lot during the time that he 
lived in his father's house developed and con- 
firmed in him a habit of self-inspection and a 
yearning after better things which subsequently 
bore wonderful fruit. He tells us that at one 
time duriug this period of his life he became 
greatly interested in watching some workmen 
who were repairing the neighijoriug church, and 
that a strong desire took hold of him to 
undertake the Iniilding of a church, and that 
he began to collect sticks and stones as heavy 
as he could carry for such a structm-e. His 
impulse was to use such pieces of fiu'nitm'e or 
other objects as he could secm-e with which to 
imitate the real builders. But his efforts 
ended in utter failure, and iu gi%nng an account 
of his experiment he says he remembers very 



well that even at that early age he thought 
that children ought to have suitable material 
and somebody to show them how to go to work 
with it, so that they might attain better results. 
In relating this anecdote Madam Kriege adds : 
' 'Who can fail to see that in this incident, 
which made such a deep impression on the 
boy's mind, lay the germ of his endeavor, 
later in life, to debase the gifts and occupa- 
tions of the kindergarten?" 

In reviewing this condition of domestic 
affau-s at the Froebel parsonage we must not 
blame the father too severely. His people 
uimibered from three to five thousand souls, 
located in half a dozen groups and scattered 
over an area of several miles ; thej' had many 
pressing wants and the religious sendees which 
the pastor was called to attend were frequent 
and engrossing. It also happened that dm-ing 
Froebel's early childhood the associate charge 
of a large new chm-ch was given him iu addi- 
tion to his pre\ious duties, so that he was 
necessarily away from home much of the time. 
But the chief trouble that cast a cloud over 
the first twenty years of Frcebel's life lay in 
the fact that father and sou were so differently 
constituted that the former never understood 
the latter. On this poiut Frffil)el says : "Al- 
though my father was a stirring, active man, 
seldom sm-passed in his relations as country 
pastor, in education, learning and experience, 
yet I remained a stranger to him through his 
entire Ufe, owing to these separations caused 
by early circumstances." 

And yet Dr.Lange says that Froebel's father 
was "a man rich in insight, and truly re- 
ligious, and that he turned his attention 
with the greatest solicitude to the early edu- 
cation of this j'oungest son of his beloved, 
departed wife. He understood how to imfold 
his heart and mind in the promising lioy by 
a judicious training." While it is not for 
us to decide regarding the relative justice 
of the two quotations, we can easily see that 
the two essential elements which were lacking 
iu the first decade of Froebel's life were mother 
love and helpful play, just those elements of 
child life which he aften\ards strove so hard 
to develop and perpetuate in the kindergarten 
system. We are often told that in this im- 
perfect world there is no glory except it is 
wi'ought out thi'ough suffering, and it is proba- 
ble that if Friedrich Fro?bel had been born 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



259 



into a happy home he could never have felt the 
need of the kindergarten, and would therefore 
never liave worked out the educational system 
which is the fruitage of a life filled -nith pri- 
vation and self-sacrificing experiment. 

Frrebel's own testimony on this point, out- 
lined in a speech which he made to the ladies 
of Hamburg, many years after, is worthy of 
note. In that speech he said : "Fate showed 
me the importance of an education conforma- 
ble to uatui'e by giving me bitter experiences 
and privations, while the early loss of my 
mother threw me upon self-education. What 
one has been obliged to contend with bitterly 
he wishes to soften to his fellow men. Thus 
the necessity of self-education led me to the 
education of my fellow men." 

AVhen Frtvliel was four years old a new ele- 
ment entered into the family life, that of the 
step-mother. Of this woman we are compelled 
to say that she fully lived up to the traditions 
of herposition, pro^-ing herself the typical step- 
mother as that person is portrayed in books 
of fiction and Ijrought out on the stage. What 
made matters worse than usual, however, was 
the apparent sinceritj' and lo\-e vnth which she 
ti'eated the boy during the first few months af- 
ter her marriage, only to rei)el him as soon as 
she had a son of her own, when she at once be- 
gan to call him by an appellation commonly ad- 
dressed to a servant. While he basked in the 
sunlight of her brief smile we are told that the 
household were surprised at the astonishing 
change that took place in the silent, taciturn 
child, who gained visibly everj- daj- in health, 
strength and acti\ity. But scarcely had the 
young mother begun to fondle her own liaby 
than it seemed to little Friedrich that she had 
become quite another person. His caresses 
were tiresome, his presence disagreeable. He 
must always go away, and if he remained she 
had neither ears nor eyes for him ; she saw only 
her nursling and had no heart, no interest for 
the bo}' who still so greatly needed the tender- 
ness of a cherishing mother. 

The result was that Friedrich became what 
is usually called a bad boy. Nobody, says 
one writer, seemed to understand him or cared 
to understand him. Motives for his actions 
were attributed to him which he never had, 
and unfortunately all this distrust and want 
of harmony had finally the effect of altering 
his naturally good disposition. He often 



concealed facts and even told untruths, because 
he knew that he would be punished for things 
that were not wrong in themselves. As the 
years passed matters seemed to get from bad 
to worse, so that his father came to regard 
him as a very bad boy. 

But the picture of his home life was not 
altogether a sad one. As soon as he was able 
to do anything he began to help his father in 
gardening and received in this waj' many last- 
ing impressions. His observation was directed 
to what was near to him in nature, and the 
plant world became to him, so far as he could 
see and touch it, an object of his thoughtful 
contemplation. His habit of nature study clung 
to him through life, and was made an essential 
part of the kindergarten system when it came 
to be estabUshed. The parsonage household 
was a bustling, energetic one. We are told by 
Fra'bel himself that both husband and wife dis- 
played great acti^■ity, loved order and sought 
in all imaginable ways to beautify their sur- 
roundings. The father believed in keeping up 
with the times, and for that purpose he took 
the latest publications and carefully considered 
all that was offered to him in them. This plan 
contributed not a little to the general Christian 
life th.at reigned in the household. All the 
members of it were assembled for devotions 
morning and evening each day of the week, and 
at such times the works of ZallLkafer, Hermes, 
Marezoll, Sturm and others were read aloud 
for the inspiration, unfolding and elevation of 
the spii-itual lif e of the family. "Thus," writes 
Fra?bel, "my life was early influenced by na- 
ture, by work and by religious perceptions, or 
as I prefer to say, the natural aud primitive 
tendencies of every human being were nurtured 
in the germ." 

All these things had their influence on the 
boy, aud he tells us that he was often deeply 
stii-red with the resolve to be truly noble and 
good. But he also adds: "As I hear from 
others, this firm resolution often contrasted 
with my outer life. I was full of youthful 
spirits and the joy of life, and did not always 
know how to moderate mj' activity', and through 
carelessness got into critical situations of all 
kinds, aud in my thoughtlessness destroyed 
ever3'thing around me that I ■wished to in- 
investigate." 

The father made some attempt to begin 
the boy's elementary education, but the re- 



260 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



suits were not satisfactory and so he decided 
to send him to school. There were two schools 
iu the village, one for the boys and the other 
for the gii'ls. Both were connected with the 
church, and as its pastor the father could choose 
either for his son. He selected the girls' school, 
because he was not satisfied with the way the 
boys' teacher discharged his duties. 

Probably the best idea of Frcebel's first day 
at school can be given by quoting his own 
words in a letter written some sixty years 
later to Col. Von Arnswald : — 

"It was a Monday when my father took 
me to school himself. I was placed on the 
seat of honor by the side of the teacher, for 
the reason, I suppose, that I was the son of 
the pastor, or, it may be, because I was reputed 
a mischievous boy that ought not to sit with 
the girls. The smallest girls on the first form 
were seated just iu front of me. A verse 
from the Bible, treated in the sermon on the 
Sunday preceding, was spoken aloud by one 
of the older girls and repeated by all the 
Bmall girls in front. On this first clay of my 
attendance they repeated the words of the 
Lord : 'Seek ye first the kingdom of God and 
his righteousness, and all these things shall be 
added unto you.' The verse was explained to 
the older girls and also to me. But the little 
girls were not required to know it perfectly 
before Sunday. Meanwhile the verse was re- 
peated in parts again and again, in the high 
pitch of their childish voices, in chorus, and in 
the old chanting manner of village schools. I 
heard this verse repeated for a long time every 
morning of the six days of the week, until the 
sounds, the words and the sense had produced 
so strong an impression upon me as to make 
this verse the motto of my life in the truest 
sense of the word ; for it has resounded like 
the chant of a chorus of nuns in my ears all 
the days of my life. The older I grew the more 
thoroughly was I led to recognize the full im- 
portance and efficacy and the profound living 
truth of the maxim. It became the basis and 
the regulator of numerous understandings of 
mine, and proved its entire truthfulness." In 
his school Froebel read in the Bible with the 
older pupils and he also learned with them the 
sacred songs which were sung on Sundays in 
the church. Among these hymns he says there 
were two which shone on the clouded dawn of 
his early childhood like bright morning stars. 



"They became," he adds, "to me as my life 
songs, because in them I saw mirrored my 
own little life, and their meaning touched my 
heart so deeply that in later years I have many 
a time been strengthened and refreshed by what 
they imparted to my soul." These songs were, 
"Rise my heart and soul," and "It costethmuch 
to be a Christ." He mentions in this connec- 
tion that he followed his father's Sunday ser- 
mons with great attention, sitting apart from 
the rest of the congregation, in the vestry. 

During these years the problems of life sat 
heavily on those young shoulders and bewil- 
dered that youthful brain. For the most part 
he was kept closely at home, although he some- 
times rode about the parish with his father 
while the latter was making pastoral calls. It 
was his delight to mount the high hill back of 
the house that he might enlarge his actual hori- 
zon and relieve his spirit from the depressing 
confines of the narrow valley. Tradition says 
that on the spot where the Memorial Tower 
now stands he spent many hours in watching 
the sunset and in boyish musing. Year by 
year he became enamoured of all the different 
phases of nature which came within his ob- 
servation, and more fond of studying their 
development. 

As he grew into boyhood we are told that his 
mind was moved most deeply not by the many 
admonitions and the pious instructions which 
he received, but by the many interviews be- 
tween his father and members of the pastor's 
flock to which he listened. One writer states 
the case in this way : "A boy of between eight 
and eleven years, small and slight in stature, 
apparently busied with a book, or some kind 
of writing, seemed to the visitors at the par- 
sonage no hindrance. They had come to open 
their hearts to the highly honored and spiritual 
teacher and to ask his counsel in their distressed 
circumstances. But the child listened with all 
the sharp attention of an inquisitive, penetrat- 
ing mind, to which the world and all its com- 
plications was wholly strange. Each person 
served as a rent in the curtain which concealed 
life from him, a telescope through which he 
could study the world. 

"But it was the dark side of life that was thus 
revealed to him. It was the complaint of the 
sorely-tried motherover the ungrateful son, the 
acknowledgment of a hidden sin, a melancholy 
fall, it was the sting of conscience, fear, repent- 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



261 



ance, despair, -which alternately had the word, 
while the earnest, yes, severe teacher, now 
through the inexorable precepts of the divine 
law, then with the consolations of mercy, strove 
to work on the dejected minds. These conver- 
sations and other influences of that time re- 
vealed to him the inner life of men, ^ith its 
hidden springs and its concealed strife and 
pain, and he perceived more and more the con- 
nection between things and words and aims, 
without being able to discover in himself and 
around him anything satisfying, anytliing aton- 
ing, and although this fair soul had already felt 
an indefinable need of unity and harmony, yet 
he could no more unite them than he could the 
most incongruous opposites, the most irrecon- 
cilable eimiities." 

The boy was ten years old when his eldest 
brother, Christoph, a theological student at 
the University of Jena, came home for a visit, 
and great was his joy in seeing him. Together 
the brothers roamed the fields, the elder ap- 
pearing to the younger an angel of consolation 
who understood him and was ready to protect 
him from unjust treatment, because he saw 
through all the youthful faults the glimmer of 
the beautiful side of his misapprehended dnd 
suppressed character. To him he unfolded 
some of his mental troubles, asking him why 
it was that God did not make all the people 



men or all women, so that there nhould be no 
quarreling, his idea being that most of the con- 
tention in the world arises from the difierence 
which exists in the sexes. To direct his mind 
from the problem of human discord his brother 
showed him the processes of vegetation — the 
compensating nature of imperfections in male 
and female flowers, and how through the prin- 
ciple of growth harmonies of l)eauty and use 
are born out of the connection of opposites. 

As tlie i^lants and flowers of the parsonage 
garden had until now been Fricdrich's dearest 
playfellows, so the new revelation of the vege- 
table world which his brother disclosed to him 
in their talks attracted his interest and he be- 
sieged Christoph with all manner of questions. 

Just then the beautiful purple threads of 
the blossoming hazel claimed a considerable 
share of their attention and threw the boy into 
raptures. His brother gave him careful in- 
struction regarding the flowers and his visit 
proved a great and lasting l)euefit in calming 
the perturbed spirit of the child. But when 
he was gone the father's house seemed more 
desolate than ever to the little motherless boy 
who had a home there only in name, and a burn- 
ing desire took possession of his soul to get 
away, as his brothers had done, to find some 
other aljiding place with a more desirable en- 
vironment and better means for helpful growth 



1792-1797-WITH HIS GUARDIAN. 



A VISITOR came to the parsonage at Ober- 
weisbach in the autumn of 1792 who took a 
deep interest in Friedrich Froebel. It was 
Herr Hoffman, his mother's brother, who was 
pastor at Stadt Ilm, a market town north of 
Froebel's home. This uncle resembled his 
sister in many ways and had never ceased to 
mourn her loss. He could not help noticing 
how unhappy and ill-suited to his surroundings 
Frcebel appeared, marking the contrast be- 
tween the step-mother and her predecessor. 
The uncle and nephew were mutually drawn 
together, and we are told that when at a cer- 
tain time during the visit Froebel fixed upon 
Herr Hoffman his soft and melancholy eyes, 
as if with longing, it suddenly seemed to him 
as if he saw the mother in the face of the child ; 



as if the soul of the loved sister had directed 
a prayer to him, through this glance, and he 
decided in his heart to give it a hearing. As 
a consequence, soon after returning home he 
made the father a proposition for the care 
and education of the boy, which was gladly 
and quickly accepted. In this way the uncle 
became Friedrich's guardian and he was also 
the custodian of certain funds left to Friedrich 
by his mother. 

Life at Stadt Ilm was very different from 
what it had been at Oberwiesbach. The little 
city lies in a broad valley, by a clear but nar- 
row stream. Herr Hoffman had lost his wife 
and child years before and his family consisted 
of himself and his aged mother-in-law. The 
parsonage was a spacious, airy house. There 



262 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



was a garden adjoiuiug it where the boy spent 
many happy hours, and he was allowed to roam 
at will through the whole region, provided he 
never failed to be at home at the appointed 
time. Concerning these days he writes : — 

"As austerity reigned in my father's house, 
80 here kindness and lieuevoleuce. I saw there, 
in respect to myself, distrust ; here, confidence ; 
there I felt constraint, here, freedom. While 
there I had been hardly at all among Ijoys of 
my own age ; here I found certainly as many 
as forty fellow-pupils, for I entered the higher 
class in the town school." This last-mentioned 
fact would seem to indicate that Froebel had 
made considerable progress in the school at 
Oberweisltach, although some of his biogra- 
phers would have us think that the training re- 
ceived there was of little benefit to him. He 
says, in his autol)iography, that in the new 
school reading, writing and arithmetic were 
well taught, and that the religious instruction 
was excellent. And he adds, "Mathematics lay 
near my nature. When I received private in- 
struction in this branch my advance steps were 
so marked that they bordered on the height of 
knowledge and ability possessed by my teacher, 
which was liy no means slight." 

Qui- pupil also informs us that Latin was mis- 
erably taught and still more sparingly learned, 
but that the time which he spent on it was not 
entirely lost, because he learned to understand 
that a course of instruction so carried on can 
bring forth no fruit in the jiupils. The recita- 
tions in geograpliy were parrot-like, the boys 
being allowed to use many words without re- 
ceiving any adequate knowledge of the subject 
or of its relations to the life of the world, al- 
though they could correctly name all the colored 
market towns and little boroughs on the local 
map. Frujbel was given private geographical 
lessons in regard to England, but as he could 
get no clear idea of its connection with his own 
country this special instruction did him but lit- 
tle good. There was also teaching in writing 
and spelling, and training in singing and piano- 
playing, but Fra'bel's verdict, rendered many 
years later, was that they amounted to but very 
little. He says that the element of generaliza- 
tion was entirely lacking, and while he praises 
the arithmetical instruction he immediately adds 
that notwithslanding the training which he re- 
ceived he Tvaa very much surprised and morti- 
fied to find •wnen he was ten years older, that 



he could not solve the problems given out to 
the boys in Pestalozzi's school. WTiat a pity 
it was that those instructors of Froebel did 
not teach him how to write clearly, the art and 
iiabit of expressing himself with pen and speech 
so that the world, or at least the educational 
part of it, might understand his language with- 
out profound study and the intervention of 
many interpreters ! 

Nevertheless, the boy gained freedom of 
mind and bodily sti'ength day by da}', and 
"drank fresh courage in long draughts." He 
explains that in his eit'orts to put himself oa 
common ground with the other boys the fre- 
quent reaction after play was often grievous, 
because his strength and activity were not 
developed according to his age, and his bold 
daring could never supply the quiet, \-igorous 
strength and the knowledge of its limit which 
his companions enjoyed. He was regarded by 
them as Ijciug very peculiar and the more he 
exerted himself to win them to him, so much 
the more striking his awkwardness appeared to 
them. He was very anxious to do everything 
they did, but his movements were so stiff and his 
demeanor so wooden, says one of his biogi'a- 
phers, that he would have been rejected by 
the band, had not one of the l)oys recognized 
his good qualities and resolved to give him aid 
and protection. For a time he could take no 
part in the games of the other boys, no matter 
how hard he tried, because the robust strength 
and activity of his companions, who had grown 
up in freedom, quickly overcame his despairing 
efforts. But eventually his perseverance con- 
quered, and the air, the active movements, the 
better care and the joyousness assisted not a 
little to improve his elasticity and health, and 
after a hard probation he received permission 
of the boys to plaj' with them. 

He was nuich .affected by the rehgious in- 
struction given in the school and its represen- 
tation of the character and the life of Christ. 
With all these.occupations and diversions some 
four years and a half passed, the chief advan- 
tage being "that he became a child again in a 
youthful world whose joys could warm and 
cheer his soul so that his heart could resume 
its natural elasticity." He was a different boy 
even when he went back to the parsonage at 
Oberweisbach, where he spent his vacations, 
entering heartily into all the acti^'ities of the 
household and taking special pleasm-e in study- 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



263 



ing the books and engl•a^^ngs in his father's 
library. Before lea^'ing Stadt Em he was 
coutirmed and admitted to the church by his 
uncle. Of this time he -m-ites : "The earnest 
days of preparation and the holy solenniity 
might pass away, but deep and lasting were 
the impressions of those beautiful hours in 
which all the threads of my life were compre- 
hended in a glorious center of peace and unity." 
Thus ended the second period of his career. 
While it afforded him many advantages it did 
not secure for him the preparation for practical 
life which is so much to be desired in every 
boy who has his way to make in the world. 
His uncle lived in a kind of an ideal life and 
in all his generous efforts for Frrebel's develop- 
ment it never for a moment occurred to him 
how little he was forming his pupil to become 
a useful citizen. On this point let us quote 
once more from Froebel's autobiography. "I 



was really as though placed in a garden where 
I could freely move about and where the glad 
sun shone on me and warmed me, but where 
there wei'e fruits that were hard to reach, 
which hung on trees that, considering my un- 
developed strength, were very hard to climb. 
In this meager way I was left to gather strength 
without leader or guide for an independent 
life — for work — for action. As my mind was 
satisfied only with the relative, the analogous, 
I received a very one-sided direction. I cre- 
ated a world for myself, which was very 
little like the world, and was comprehensible 
or intelligible only to me. I knew and under- 
stood very much for myself, but it was a 
heightened self-consciousness which had no 
value for others. I knew and comprehended 
absolutely nothing of the world, nothing of 
the social life for which I was destined." 



1797-1799-THE FORESTER'S APPRENTICE. 



In the spring of 1797, at the age of fifteen, 
we find Froebel back again in his father's 
house, with a great question confronting him 
and the rest of the family, the choice of an 
occupation for life. It had seemed to him 
that he would like to be a preacher, but he 
dared not let his thoughts dwell on such a 
thing, because, according to his step-mother 
it had been "distinctly understood" for years 
that he must not go to the University for the 
reason that his two brothers, Christoph and 
Traugott, were abeady there, and the other 
brother, Christian, was expecting to follow 
them. This woman said that to undertake to 
send the fom-th son wonld certainly impover- 
ish the f amilj' finances to an extent which would 
be unbearable, and, moreover, that Friedrich 
was too stupid to have any more time or money 
wasted on his education. It is said, however, 
that her scruples about spending more money 
at the University faded out of si'ght when her 
first-born son came to be old enough to enter it. 

But it was determined that for Friedrich 
something commercial should be sought, and 
his father apphed to a neighboring revenue 
officer for a clerkship, but without success. 
There was also some talk of his entering into 



the ser\'ice of a wealthy family named Von 
Halzhausen, the same one in which he subse- 
quently became a tutor, but he was very much 
opposed to this plan and tells in his subsequent 
wi'itings "that he never felt in his heart such 
^^olent feeUngs of horror against anything as 
he did in the thought of ha^^ng a position 
where he must brush clothes and shoes and 
serve at the table." 

Then the father consulted the boy's wishes 
and he expressed a desire for an outdoor life, 
because of his love of nature. About this 
time the elder Fra'bel became acquainted with 
a surveyor and assessor living at Neuhaus, a 
place lying south of Oberweisbach, who had a 
special reputation for his knowledge of geome- 
try. Of him one record says that he was "a 
nolile and earnest man, in ecclesiastical matters 
a congenial spirit." But it was a record that 
fell far short of the mark in the case of Froebel, 
who was apprenticed to him for two years, to 
learn geometry, sun'eying, the method of 
assessing taxes and the care of forests. The 
master. was weU versed in the duties of his 
profession, but he did not understand the art 
of teaching and could therefore impart very 
little instruction to others. Neither did he 



264 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



have the time to do what he had inoniised for 
his apprentice, so engrossing were tlie demands 
of tlie practical work connected witli his dail}^ 
business. Moreover, he was often away from 
home for long periods, when the pupil was 
left entirely to himself with ample time to 
study the lilirary of hooks belonging to the 
house. Frwltel was not slow to improve this 
opportunity, giving much attention to works 
on geometry and forest affairs and the collect- 
ing and dr3ing of plants, as well as the drawing 
of maps of the district. He also made the 
acquaintance of a physician in the neighbor- 
ing market town who loaned him additional 
books on botany. 

During these years we are told that he lived 
in peace and quiet, protected from evil, in an 
ideal world which he himself had created and 
that lie obtained a closer knowledge of field, 
meadow and forest, for he saw nothing else but 
field, meadow and forest, through which he 
wandered by day and night. "He felt that in 
nature there must be a higher interest than to 
supi)ly us with certain material advantages and 
facilities, and he began also to perceive that in 
order to represent the ideal fai-mer something 
else was necessary than merely the proper 
management of the various objects of husband- 
ry. How greatly he -n-ished that all men who 
thus lived from, with and in nature could look 
on her with other eyes, and not make her tribu- 
tary as their slave — but accept her also as their 
friend, in a pure, lieautiful and elevated, God- 
glorifying life." "We are further told that in 
those days he was always dressed in green, the 
color of the fields, with yellow top-boots and a 
feather in his hat, and that no one who saw him 
wandering about the country could possibly 
have suspected the depth and earnestness of 
soul, tliirstiug for light and truth, which dwelt 
in this fantastic boy. 

During the latter part of his stay at Neuhaus 
a company of strolling actors gave a series of 
plays in a neighboring castle. Fra>bel at- 
tended their first presentation and was so much 
moved by it that he came again and again to 
see and hear them. These dramas seemed to 
offer to his fancy the long-denied element of 
poetry, and touched his susceptible mind all 
the more deeply because he recalled and lived 
over again the scenes of each play during the 
long walk home, beneath the stan-y heavens, 
which followed every performance. He vividly 



remembered, in later years, the enthusiasm 
which was awakened in his breast by the 
rendering of such plays as ' 'The Huntsmen" 
by Itfland. He invested all he saw and heard 
on that rural stage with lofty thoughts and 
purposes, and believed those actors happy 
who could, according to his view, work so 
powerfully for the improvement of mankind. 
He imagined that the profession of the stage 
was a noble calling and one that he would like 
well to follow. He wrote home to his father 
about his new aspirations and the latter re- 
plied by upbraiding him in good set tenns. 
This letter was a matter of genuine grief to him, 
because he tells us that he had come to regard 
his pati'onage of the theater a matter to be as 
much commended as his best church attendance. 

He even went so far, before receiving his 
father's letter, as to introduce himself to one 
of the actors that he might disclose his wish to 
join such a desirable profession. The biogra- 
pher tells us that the peculiar intei-view ended 
in this way : "The actor Ustened earnestly to 
Friedrich, but a melancholy smile plaj'ed around 
his mouth as he took his hand and answered 
him : 'You deceive yourself, young friend ; 
om- society is nothing of all that which you 
dream. We hold together only through hunger. 
Would to God that I had never trod the boards 
and could labor with my hands.' He then went 
on to depict all the misery of the Ufe behind 
the curtain, particularly for one, who like himself 
belonged to a cultured family and had taken it 
up through necessity." This ended Froebel's 
theatrical aspirations, but in order to mollify 
his father's anger he wi'ote to his brother Chris- 
toph the whole story and begged his intercession 
with their father. 

The apprenticeship ^ith the sun-eyor or for- 
ester, as he is commonly called, came to an end 
in the summer of 1799, and Frcebel and his 
master parted unpleasantly. He had proved 
himself valuable to this man, who on that ac- 
count wanted to keep him another year. But 
the boy felt that he must have time to follow 
out his studies more systematically than he 
could possibly do by remaining, and therefore 
started for home on foot as soon as his time 
had expired. This action so enraged the sur- 
veyor that he sent a letter to Frcebel's father 
complaining that the young man had been un- 
faithful in many ways and deserved censure. 

On his way home Frcebel stopped at the vil- 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



265 



lage where his brother Christoph had settled as 
a pastor and while the brothers were visiting 
together the forester's letter was forwarded to 
them from Olienveisbach. As a result Fried- 
rich related to Christoph all that had happened 
dining his stay at Neuhaus, naming the books 
he had studied, sho'O'ing the maps he had drawn 
and his collections of botanical specimens. 
As a result Christoph stood perfectly amazed 
while he heard of such inexcusable neglect on 
the part of the forester, and at once began to 
reproach Friedrich because he had not infonned 
his father of the great waste of time which had 
been going on diu-ing such an important appren- 
ticeship. But in reply the j^ounger brother re- 
minded him of the sentence pronounced on him 
by the father when he went to Neuhaus : ' 'We 
will not hear any complaints, we shall always 
consider you in the wrong." Christoph well 
knew the father's severity and was silent, but 
he took on himself at once the duty of pointing 
out to him the gross neglect of the forester and 
that Friedrich, considering the meager means 
at his command, had improved his time and 



made real progress in map drawing, mathe- 
matics and botany. 

Nevertheless, his reception at home was little 
calculated to inspire a young man with courage 
and hope for the future. The step-mother 
had lent a willing ear to the forester's letter and 
was prepared to estimate it at face value, and 
she saw in the rich and excellent collection of 
plants, dried ^-ith the utmost care, nothing but 
foolery. The world looked particularly dark 
to Froebel just then, the question what to do 
next being more perplexing than ever. 'What 
the result would have been had not an accident 
helped shape his future course in life no one 
can predict. His brother Traugott, who was 
studying medicine at Jena, wrote home for 
money, and as the matter was urgent and as 
Friedrich had nothing to do it was decided to 
make him the messenger to take it there. And 
so to Jena he went in the summer of 1799, 
and being once there remained as a student, 
thereby fulfiUiug his highest ambition and 
accomplishing the day dreams of all his con- 
scious years. 



1799— iSoi— A STUDENT AT JENA. 



When Fra;bel reached the University town 
he persuaded his brother to write home that his 
time could be profitably employed there for 
the eight remaining weeks of the term in the 
study of topographical and local drawing. The 
request was granted, the reason being, in all 
probability, that the step-mother had very little 
idea of what she could do with the boy if he 
came home. The brothers returned to Ober- 
weisbach in September and Friedrich began at 
once to plead with his father for leave to be- 
come a regular student at Jena. The father said 
that he would gladly favor such a project, but 
that he did not see how the money could be 
provided for both Christian and Friedrich to 
take a prescribed course at the University, and 
that it would involve a good deal of sacrifice 
to carry Christian, who was two years the 
elder, through the studies which he had al- 
ready begun. But he told Friedrich to talk the 
matter over with his brothers and his guar- 
dian, which he did. As a result his darling 
wish was secured by an act of generous self- 
renunciation on the part of Christian. 



This brother was a young man of noble 
character ; he loved Friedrich sincerely and 
understood how much harder it would be for 
him to give up the life and subsequent career 
of a student than it would be if he himself 
should choose some vocation in what we are ac- 
customed to call practical life. It was evident 
that only one of the brothers could go to college 
and Christian resigned all his prospects in a 
professional way and decided to devote him- 
self to manufactui'ing interests. In this new 
departure he was successful, securing iu time 
a competency which he freely placed at the dis- 
posal of Friedrich in aid of educational schemes 
to which he also gave his personal service and 
that of his family for many years. 

Itwas therefore decided that Christian's offer 
should be accepted and that Friedrich should 
take his brother's place at Jena, the uncle as 
guardian haAiug consented to apply to the cost 
of his education there the money held in tnist 
as a legacy from his mother. Consequently 
we find him back at Jena in the last months of 
1799, registered as a student of philosophy. 



266 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



This labeling was e\-ideutly the work of Froe- 
bel's father, rather than by the direction of 
the pupil himself, for he saj-s that it appeared 
to him very strange, because he had only 
thought of practical knowledge as the object of 
his studj'. The lectures which he attended per- . 
tained to mathematics, arithmetic, algebra, 
geometry, mineralogy, botany, natural history, 
phj'sics, chemistry, the science of finance, care 
of forest trees, architecture, buililing and sur- 
veying. He also continued topographical 
drawing, but we are told that he learned noth- 
ing of philosophy, except what was imparted 
to him through the conversation of his friends. 
But the fact that he had been registered in the 
department of philosophy, he tells us, made 
on his dreamy, easily-moved and susceptible 
life a very great impression, and gave his 
studies an unexpected, higher meaning. Con- 
cerning the mathematical lectures he says : 
"The lectures of my excellent teacher had not 
the same value that they might and would have 
had, if I had seen in the sequence of the in- 
struction and in the progress of the same, more 
inner necessity and less arbitrariness." 

He found more satisfaction in the teaching 
which he received in botany, zoology and natu- 
ral history. lu the study of mineralogy, 
which he greatly loved, he discovered how little 
his eyes were opened and how feelily he had 
learned to see. He says that in the natural his- 
tory branches he had a sensible, loving and 
benevolent teacher and that through him his in- 
sight into nature was essentially quickened and 
his love for observing it made more active. 

It was this experience which led him in after 
life to give little children suitable directions 
and encoiu'agement in acquiring habits of close 
observation. 

Our young student lived very economically 
and in a secluded way at Jena, seldom appear- 
ing in pubhc places and Nisiting few other stu- 
dents except his brother. But we are told that 
he did attract the attention of several natural- 
ists because of his eagerness to advance in 
their line of study, and that he accepted their 
invitation to Join two societies which they 
were forming at that time. 

But here in Jena, being well started in his 
studies, he soon began to meet with fresh 
trouble, an element which was destined to en- 
ter into every period of his life. He had brought 
enough money with him to last for a consider- 



able time but after a while, at the request of 
his brother, he loaned him the greater part of 
his little store, on a promise that it would be 
repaid so that no inconvenience should result 
to him from the loan. This promise was not 
fulfilled, and some accounts say that Traugott, 
who was in his last year at the University, 
even departed from the city leaving the boy 
without support for the future or means to pay 
bills which were already overdue. At all events 
Friedrich found himself toward the end of his 
third half year, in the summer of 1^01, in debt 
thirty thalers, a little less than 125, to a res- 
taurant keeper, and having nothing to pay was 
thrown into the University prison where he 
languished for nine weeks. 

There are some things about this narrative 
which seem incredible. Previous to his im- 
prisonment the creditor had for a long time 
threatened to resort to extreme measures and 
had made a demand on the father, which the 
latter had met with a very positive denial. The 
reason for this refusal is said to be that the el- 
der F'rojbel allowed himself to be wholly domi- 
nated in the matter by his wife. After his con- 
finement had begun Friedrich wrote again to his 
father for help and also to his guardian, who 
still held a part of his money. But he received 
no aid from either quarter, the uncle declin- 
ing succor because of some section of the city 
ordinances which prevented him from interfer- 
ing in such an affair. It is supposed that he took 
this ground because he felt that the money lie 
had already advanced had been misapplied and 
that, under the circumstances, it was the fath- 
er's duty to take action and that by withholding 
help he could ultimately force hi& brother-in-law 
to meet the obligation and release his ward. 

Meanwhile Froebel spent the nine weeks of 
his prison life in the study of Latin, in wliich 
he felt himself to be deficient. He was finally 
released by deciding to give a note of hand for 
the amount involved, as his father's heir. This 
note his father cashed, on condition that he re- 
nounce all further claim to the parental estate. 
Being at liberty, he went home at once, thus 
gi\ing up his course after a residence at Jena 
of aljout eighteen months. It was in the spring- 
time when ho was just nineteen that he came 
back to the parsonage at OI)erweisbach and he 
wi'ites as follows: "Natiu'ally I entered the 
house with a heavy heart, a troubled mind and 
an oppressed spirit," He now began to apply 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



267 



himself to literatm-e and wished to make a close 
review of all that he had learned and treasured. 
Happy in this occupation he shut himself up in 
his little chamber day after day, 'nith his books. 
The step-mother suggested to the father that it 
would lie well to surprise him at his work, be- 
ing suspicious that something was going on that 
ought to be stopped. And so the father en- 
tered the room suddenly one day, to find Fried- 
rich writing at a table, with a pile of papers be- 
fore him. He looked through several sheets 
and then angrily exclaimed: '"Now what non- 
sense is this? What an aimless destruction of 
paper!" And the record adds : '-No doulit all 
his papers would have been thrown into the fire 
and he banished from the place had not his 
brother Christoph been present and moderated 
the father's disjileasure. A little later Friedrich 
went to an estate in Hildburg owned by a rela- 
tive of his father, to become the steward's as- 
sistant, where he remained some months. 

The weeks which he had spent at home had 
revealed to him in a stronger light than ever 
before his father's excellent qualities, and he 



deeply regretted the estrangement between 
them. Days and nights he tells us that he was 
busy in his mind planning how to vrrite to his 
father in the wannest words what was passing 
within his heart, but when he sat down for that 
purpose his courage sank and tlie fear of arous- 
ing new and greater misapprehensions made 
hun lay his pen aside. 

A little later the father was taken sick and 
sent for Friedrich to help in regulating his affairs 
and correspondence. The old man died in Feb- 
ruary, 1802, and in writing of this event the 
son says: "My father carried his anxiety for 
my future in his heart till his last hour. May 
his glorified spirit, while I write this, look down 
on me with pleasure and benediction, and now 
be contented ■n'itli the sou who loved him so 
deeply." It was at Easter 1802, that the 
young man left the parsonage at Obei-weisbach, 
once more to seek his future in the wide world, 
and there is no record that he ever returned 
there for any pennancnt stay. Henceforth he 
was the master of his own actions. 



1802—1S0S— BECOMES A TEACHER. 



Feoji Oberweisbach Fra'bel went fiistto the 
forest court near Bamberg, to take the place of 
court actuary or clerk. According to one 
translation this position was that of treasurer 
of the episcopal department of finance. He 
remained there for nearh' a year and then went 
to Bamberg, which had meanwhile been ceded 
to Bavaria. He made the change because he 
thought that the projected land survey under 
the new government would give him employ- 
ment. This change resulted in his doing some 
map drawing and surveying, but he did not get 
the government appointment for which he had 
hoped. Therefore he advertised in one of the 
papers for a position, at the same time sending 
the editor some of his architectiu'al and geomet- 
rical work for use as illustrations. This ad- 
vertisement brought him the offer of a private 
secretaryship to the president of Dewitz in 
Mecklenberg, who lived at Gross Milchow, 
which he accepted in February, 1804. His most 
important work there was to reduce to order, 
according to a plan laid out by the owner, some 
accounts that were badly tangled. 



But this occupation became distasteful after 
a little and the young man resolved to supple- 
ment his mathematical attainments by study- 
ing architecture, so as to make it his life work, 
provided the means could l)e secured. He had 
a friend who was a private tutor at Frankfort, 
and he determined to join him there for the 
purpose just named. Consequently he wrote 
to his eldest brother asking for assistance. In 
due time the answer came, but Fra'bel carried 
it around with him for hours without unsealing 
it, and for days he did not read it, because he 
felt, as he says, that there was little probability 
that his brother could help him in accomplish- 
ing the wish of his soul, and so feared to find in 
the letter the desti'uetion of his life. And he 
adds : "When after some days of alternation 
between hope and doubt I finally opened the 
letter I was not a little astonished that in the 
beginning of it the most heartfelt sympathy 
was expressed. The further contents moved 
me deeply. It contained the news of my uncle's 
death and the announcement that a legacy had 
fallen to me." 



268 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



As a result he established himself at Frank- 
fort in the summer of 1805, expecting to devote 
all his energies to architecture. But this choice 
was not a lasting one. The student began to 
ask himself, ' 'How can you work through archi- 
tecture for the culture and ennobling of man?" 
In a few weeks he met the principal of a model 
or normal school which had lately been opened 
in the citj'. This man's name was Gruuerand 
he urged Frcebel very strongly to give up the 
idea of being an architect and to at once be- 
come a teacher in his school, a proposition 
made on the first evening of their acquaintance, 
because Froeliel sjwke so earnestly about the 
necessity of each person getting into the place in 
this world for which he is best fitted. We are 
told that in the midst of his spirited talk he felt 
the touch of a hand on his shoulder and that Dr. 
Gruner said : "iNIy friend, you should not be 
au architect, you should be a schoolmaster. 
There is a place open in our school ; if you agree 
to it the place is yours." 

Froebel accepted this summons as a call of 
Providence ; in August, 1805, he went to Yver- 
duu in Switzerland to see and hear Pestalozzi, 
who was then the great educational light of the 
day, the fountain-head of all new educational 
ideas. He tarried there as an obser\'er for two 
weeks. He attended the recitations and wrote 
out the account of what he saw, so that he might 
report it on his return to Frankfort, which oc- 
ciu-red in Octoljer. Then he began teaching in 
good earnest, according to the new plans, his 
branches being arithmetic, drawing, geometry 
and the German language. There weretwo hun- 
di'ed children in the school, with four regularly- 
appointed and nine private teachers. His first 
venture, he lieing then in his twenty-fom'th 
year, was ^^-ith a class of thh-ty or forty boys, 
between the ages of nine and eleven. 

Au extract from a letter written to his brother 
Christoph at this time shows conclusively the 
spirit with which he entered into the work : "I 
must tell you candidly that my duties in the 
school are prodigiously exacting. Even in the 
first hour they did not seem strange to me. It 
appeared to me as if I had already been a 
teacher and was born to it. I cannot sketch my 
strange observations in all their fullness. It 
is plain to me now that I was i-eally fitted for 
no other calling, and yet I must tell you that 
never in my life had I thought to become a 
teacher. In the hours of instruction I feel my- 



self as truly in my element as the fish in the 
water or the bird in the air. You cannot think 
how pleasantly the time passes. I love the 
children so heartily that I am continually long- 
ing to see them again. You should see me 
sometimes when I am busy ; jou would truly 
rejoice over my happiness. I have certainly 
this pure enjoyment of the consciousness of 
the high aims of my work, the cultivation of 
the human soul to thank, as well as the hearty 
love of the children with which they reward me." 

At another time, speaking of those days, he 
said: "I was inexpressibly happy — from the 
first moment I felt complete consecration. What 
many-sided efforts ! What abundant activity ! 
I must give adNnce, explanation, iutei-pretation, 
decision over so many things on which it had 
never been necessary for me to think definitely. 
I was alone in a sti-ange city. I sought my an- 
swer therefore where I had so often found it, in 
my own mind, in life and in natme. And from 
them came voices which revealed to me how ex- 
cellent for my own culture had been my toil- 
some development, for I received from out the 
depthsofthemind.of life and of natm-e, answers 
which were not only satisfactory, but which 
also, through their simplicity and undoubted 
accuracy, possessed a youthful newness and 
\'igor which produced a quickening and ani- 
mating effect." Wliile entertaining such ideas 
how could Froebel torment his pupils with the 
system of teaching which had so vexed and 
toi-tiu'ed him when a boy ? He was forced for 
himself and for them to break a new road, to 
create a new system of instruction. He was 
now in a position not only to make his experi- 
ments freely, but was uuder obligation to map 
out original pedagogical work. 

One of his first suggestions to his fellow 
teachers along this line of new educational en- 
deavor was that they should undertake weekly 
waUvS with the pupils, as a direct aid in pur- 
suing the particular study which was under 
consideration at the time. One teacher should 
take his class out with reference to botany, 
another for the investigation of zoology and a 
third as a help in acquiring knowledge of geog- 
raphy or for gaining new lessons in horticul- 
ture. In many respects he adopted the plans 
already proposed by Pestalozzi, but with im- 
portant variations. Pestalozzi held, for in- 
stance, that the study of geogi-aphy need not in 
the least be associated with the child's obse?"va- 




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2 
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CQ 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



269 



tions, but should have for its starting-point the 
bottom of the sea. But Fra>l )el first talked witli 
his pupils about the house in which they found 
themselves, advancing from the house to the 
street and the cityiu general, and then out into 
the world at large. Regarding this method, he 
says: "I took everything according to nature 
and drew the picture immediately, diminished 
in size, on an even surface of ground or saud 
chosen for the purpose." Do we in these words 
catch the first suggestion of the sand modeling 
which forms such an important part of the 
geographical instruction of our day ? By way 
of further explanation, Fra'beladds : "When 
the picture was firmly grasped and imprinted 
we drew itiu school on a horizontal blackboard. 
It was first sketched l)y the teacher and pupil, 
then made an exercise for every scholar. Our 
representation of the earth's surface had at 
first a spherical form like the apparent horizon. " 
His method won the approbation of the teach- 
ers associated with him and also of the chil- 
dren's parents, o-ning to the excellent results 
shown at the first public examination of the 
school. 

In addition to his school duties he gave in- 
struction for two hours to three children in a 
private family named Von Holzhausen, who 
lived on the plains near Frankfort, spending 
a good deal of his time with his pupils in the 
open air and in gettmg acquainted with the 
plant world. 

In July, 1807, he left the school to become 
the regular teacher of the three boys just men- 
tioned, under the contract which stipulated 
that he need never l)e obliged to live with his 
pupils in the city, and also that they should be 
committed to his care without reservation. Of 
this period he writes : "My life at first with my 
pupils was very circumscribed. It consisted 
of li^^ng and walking in the open air. Cut off 
from the influence of a city education, I did 
not yet venture to introduce the simple life 
of nature into the sphere of education. My 
younger pupils themselves taught me and guided 
me to that. In the following year this life with 
my pupils was especially roused and animated, 
when the father assigned them a piece of field 
for a garden, which we cultivated in connnon. 
Their highest joy was to give their parents and 
me fruits from their garden. Oh, how their eyes 
glistened when tbey could do it ! Beautiful 
plants aud little shrabs from the field, the great 



garden of God, were planted aud cared for in 
the little gardens of the children." 

"Afterthattime my j-outhful life, as I mental- 
ly reviewed it, did not appear to me so entirely 
useless. I learned what a very ditferent thing 
is the care of a plant, whether one has seen 
and watched its natural life at the different 
epochs of its unfolding or if he has always 
stood far from nature. A little child that freely 
and voluntarily seeks flowers and cherishes and 
cares for them in order to wind them into a 
bouquet for parents or teachers cannot be a bad 
child or become al)ad man. Such a child can 
easily be led to the love and to a knowledge of 
liis father, God, who gives him such gifts." 

The abovepassageis worthy of a second read- 
ing, because it illustrates the fact that although 
Frwbel was at times very obscure in his attempts 
to give expression to his ideas he was, never- 
theless, able on occasions to clothe his thought 
with a clearness aud beauty which challenge 
admiration. 

In those days which Froebel spent with his 
pupils in the little country house that had been 
fitted up for them he sought always to coml)ine 
labor with instruction and when the boys were 
busy with hatchet and spade, with oar or fishing 
tackle, he made every occupation serviceable to 
awaken their desire for knowledge. And we 
are told that the regular and moderate method 
of living which they followed banished all the 
indolence and helpless dependence of the chil- 
di-en, so that in a short time they improved 
wonderfully in health and strength and the 
keenness with which they enjoyed life was 
greatly increased. 

When, however, autumn approached, with its 
dark days, long evenings and bad weather, con- 
siderable time was given to the practice of 
music aud drawing. But there were still un- 
occupied hours which in summer had been de- 
voted to rural occupations. How could they 
be spent pleasantly and profitably ? Eef erring 
to his experience at this tune, Froebel says : 
"When my pupils came to me vnth some new de- 
mand I asked myself, 'What did you do when 
a boy? What happened to you to quicken 
your impulse for acti%-ity aud representation? 
By what means was this impulse at that age 
most fitly satisfied ?' Then out of my earliest 
lioyhood something came to me which gave to 
me at that moment all that I needed. It was 
the simple art of imprinting, on smooth paper, 



270 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



signs aud tonus by regular lines." He also re- 
membered how he had tried to keep himself 
busy with all kinds of liraided work from paper 
and binding trvine, and he resolved to try this 
occupation with the lioys. 

In carrying out this plan he was brought at 
once to a realizing sense of the crudeness with 
which the unpraeticed hand does its work, how 
poorly the will is master of the fluger-ends un- 
der such cii'cmnstances, and how Inaccuiately 
the eye obsei-ves. Consequently he designed 
a few preparatory exercises for training the 
hand and eye, so that the boys could under- 
take their pasteboard work. He began with 
the folding and the separating aud pasting of 
papers. He also let them work with twine, till 
they became experts in making nets and game 
bags, lu these occupations they had to In-ing 
into practice what they had learned in draw- 
ing, arithmetic and geometry. Later in the 
season they did some work in wood. 



Thus early in his career we catch the germ 
of the kindergarten thought which dominated 
Froebel's life in after years. AVe are also told 
that the little house where he and his young 
people worked is still preserved as a token of 
remembrance and contains a room in which 
everything is left just as it appeared in those 
days. The mother of the three boys preserved 
every memorial of Fra?bel with religions venera- 
tion during his lifetime, while he in turn held 
her in high esteem, so that for a long period 
a correspondence was kept up between them. 
After a year of this special work as a private 
tutor Froebel became anxious to secure a wider 
development for himself and his pupils than 
country Life afforded, and so, in the summer of 
1808, he took them to Pestalozzi's school at 
Yverdun, where he remained with them for two 
years, acting meanwhile as pupil and teacher, 
being resolute in his determination to secure a 
pedagogical education. 



iSoS— iSio-RELATIONS WITH PESTALOZZI. 



The records of Fra?bers life at Yverdun are 
meager, much being left to the reader's imagi- 
nation. We know that he tried on his arrival 
to secure quarters for himself and his pupils in 
the main school building, or castle as it was 
sometimes called. Failing in this, the quartette 
obtained lodgings in an adjoining dwelliug, tak- 
ing their meals with the other students and 
sharing in their instruction. Frwbel tells us 
that during this period he was both teacher and 
scholar, educator and pupil. He made it his 
business to talk with Pestalozzi regarding every 
subject that came up from its first point of 
connection, so that he might understand it from 
the foundation. And he adds : ''I soon felt the 
need of unity of endeavor in means and end. 
Therefore I sought to gain the highest insight 
into everything. I was pupil in all subjects, 
numbers, form, singing, reading, drawing, lan- 
guage, geogi-aphy, natural science, dead lan- 
guages, etc. In what was offered for youthful 
life, for comprehensive teaching, for higher 
instruction I missed that satisfying of the 
human being, the essence of the subject. Pes- 
talozzi's ^^ew^ were very universal, and, as ex- 
perience taught, only awakening to those al- 
ready grounded in the right. In connection 
with the subjects taught, the instruction in 



language struck me first in its great imperfec- 
tion, arbitrariness aud lifelessness. During 
the time spent at Yverdun the discovery of a 
satisfying method of teaching the mother 
tongue occupied me especially. 
"I proceeded from the following considera- 
tions : Language is the image, the representa- 
tion of a world, and is related to the outer 
world through articulately formed tones ; if I 
wish properly to rejiresent a thing I must know 
the original according to its character. The 
outer world has objects ; I must also have a, 
decided form, a decided word for the object. 
The objects, however, show qualities ; lan- 
guage must, therefore, have quality words in 
its construction. These qualities are neces- 
sarily Iround np with the objects ; qualities of 
being, having and becoming." 

Continuing the story of his life at Yverdun, 
Frrebel says that he learned there to recognize 
boyish play in the free air, in its power, devel- 
oping and strengthening spirit, disposition and 
body. In the plays which were there carried 
on and with what was connected with them, he 
discovered the chief source of the moral 
strength of the young people in the institution. 
He says that at that time the higher symbolical 
meaning of play had not yet been opened to 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



271 



him, BO that he could only regard it as a moral 
power for body and mind. The walks which 
the students took had an equally good influence 
with the plays, particularly those taken in the 
company of Pestalozzi. lu suumiing up the 
results secured by his stay at Yverduu Fra'bel 
writes : ' 'There is no question that Pestalozzi's 
public and especially his eveuing reflections, 
in which he liked to exert himself to awaken 
and unfold the ideal of nol ile manhood and true 
human love, oontriluited most essentially to the 
development of the inner life. On the whole, 
I spent ill Yverduu an inspiring, grand, and 
for my life, decisive time." 

From another account of this period we get, 
first a clear idea of whatFrwbel hoped and ex- 
pected to find in Pestalozzi's teachings, and 
then the particulars wherein he was disap- 
pointed. "If 1 comprehend what I sought 
and expected there," writes Fro-bel, referring 
to Yverduu, ''it was a roliust inner life, which 
should find utterance in many ways in creative 
acts ; a healthy and strong life of child and 
youth that should answer all the requii-emeuts 
for the development of body and soul. I 
thought that Pestalozzi must be the arteries 
and central point of all this vitality and effort, 
and out from this focus in all directions the life 
of the youth, as of the teacher, must be pene- 
trated. AVith such high-strung expectations I 
arrived at Yverduu, and I doubted not that 
I should find there the solution of all my 
questions." 

In a certain sense, this same narrative adds, 
Froebelwas not deceived in his expectations. 
Pestalozzi did indeed form the shining center 
of his circle and froni his warm heart radiated 
light and life. But after a little Fro?bel, who 
had nothing to do but observe, investigate and 
examine what was being done, began to dis- 
cover more and more weakness in the methods 
which were practiced, methods that produced 
desirable results only through the inspiring 
mind of Pestalozzi, results that could have 
been reached by other means quite as well, and 
perhaps better. Meanwhile the strength of 
Pestalozzi's self-sacrificing love atoned in 
many respects for his lack of clearness, dis- 
cretion and firmness. 

As Frffibel lingered at Yverdun month after 
month his aims became plainer to him and he 
gained a deeper perception of the early require- 
ments and laws of the child's development than 



Pestalozzi possessed. This fact, however, did 
not prevent him from esteeming the country 
fortunate where such a mau as Pestalozzi lived 
and worked, and he felt anxious to render hhn 
aU the honor which was his due and also to 
sound his praise in public. But he became 
thoroughly convinced that the foundations of 
popular education for real life must be fixed on 
some basis more natural, more anthropological 
than any which Pestalozzi could offer. 

AMien Froebel and his pupils left the school 
the management had reached a crisis, so that 
everj'thing fell into disordei-, and he was ol jliged 
to accept the con^'iction that the esteemed and 
amiable Pestalozzi was surrounded by false 
friends and badly supported, and that his work 
however excellent in itself, lacked a sufficient- 
ly healthful vitahty to set forth and jtrove itself 
a permanent reform in pojiuhir education. 

In dwelling on this part of Fra'bel's fife we 
have taken pains to record as fully as possible 
his impressions of Pestalozzi which were gained 
through two j'ears of daily intercourse with him, 
because many people of the present day, some 
of whom are regarded as eminent educators, 
persistently maintain that iu publishing to the 
world the kindergarten system of infantile 
education Frtt'bel really originated very little, 
and that all the ideas which he put forth that 
have since proved of any value were derived 
from Pestalozzi. While there is neither room 
nor disposition for us to argue this question 
here, we ad^-ise all students of the kindergarten 
system to undertake to settle it for themselves. 
Let them study, as they have opportunity, the 
philosophy of both men, as it is outlined in 
their writings, and trace out the results as they 
appear iu the educational field to-day. Then 
each one will be competent to decide whether 
through native ability and the practical train- 
ing of experience it was possible for Pestalozzi 
to transmit to FrQ?bel anything on which he 
could evolve what the world calls in oiu- day 
the Idndergarten system. 

The reader of these lines is asked always to 
bear iu mind that the pm-pose of the present 
narrative is to give the well-accepted facts of 
Froibel's life in the order iu which they oc- 
curred, with as little embellishment as possible. 
But if at this particular point we may be al- 
lowed an opinion as to what constitutes the 
radical and essential difference between the 
philosophy of Froebel and that of Pestalozzi, 



272 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



it is the difference between self-activity and imi- 
tation. The latter is always preaching what we 
may term the gospel of imitation, always teach- 
ing the child to imitate what the teacher has 
done ; on the other hand the kindergarten sys- 
tem inculcates the gospel of originality by pre- 
senting certain basal principles which must be 
followed, but which when mastered by the pupil 
are sure to stimulate him to original work. 
Pestalozzi was helpful to Froebel at a time when 



he most needed pedagogical enlightenment, 
but to assert that Froebel is merely the inter- 
preter of Pestalozzi is to make a claim which 
is not to be Hghtly accepted without analytical 
and conclusive proof. 

Returning to Frankfort in 1810 Froebel con- 
tinued his engagement as private tutor in the 
Von Holzhausen family for a j'ear longer, and 
then resumed his University studies with much 
satisfaction to himself. 



1811—1S13— FINAL UNIVERSITY STUDIES. 



In the summer of 1811, being twenty-nine 
years old, Frcebel entered the University at 
Gottiugen, more than ten years after he had re- 
linquished student life at Jena. At Gottiugen 
he at once devoted himself to the study of lan- 
guages, beginning with Hebrew and Arabic, 
with a Adew of also paying some attention to 
the Indian and Persian. He also devoted a 
certain amount of time to Greek and dipped 
into the old favorites, physics, chemistry, min- 
eralogy and natural history in general with re- 
newed ardor, and also astronomy. He enjoyed 
hunself greatly in the pursuit of knowledge un- 
der these new conditions and lived alone that 
nothing might interfere with his chosen work. 
It was his habit to walk aliout the beautiful sub- 
m'bs of the city during the latter part of the af- 
ternoon, "in order to be greeted by the friendlj' 
rays of the sinking sun," and these rambles 
were sometimes extended till near midnight. 

He had been at Gottiugen but a few weeks, 
however, when his chronic lack of funds be- 
came once more a serious matter aud he made 
up his mind that he must turn his attention to 
literary work as a help in his support. His 
apprehensions were relieved, however, by tka 
receipt of a legacy from his mother's sister 
which made it possible for him to continue his 
studies without interruption. He was particu- 
larly interested in the lectures on mineralogy, 
which gave him an insight into the fundamental 
forms of crystals and other minerals. For us 
to trace the fruits of this study in the kinder- 
garten system as Frrebel has handed it down 
to us is not difficult. 

Wliat he learned at Gottiugen stimulated his 
ambition to go to Berlin aud continue his in- 
vestigations of mineralogy, geology, crystallog- 



raphy and their laws, at the college of Prof. 
Weiss, who was a famous instructor in those 
branches. He also resolved to make the change 
because he hoped that Berlin would afford bet- 
ter opportunities for securing a place as tutor, 
as the legacy just mentioned would not support 
him for many months. Consequently he went 
to Berlin in October, 1812, at once devoting 
himself with undiminished enthusiasm to the 
subjects which he loved aud at the same time 
becoming instructor in a distinguished private 
school. 

The months of fall and winter passed quickly 
and in the early spring the throb of the war 
drum cut short, almost in the twinkling of an 
eye, his University course, as it has done that 
of many noble men in other lauds and times. 

Eight here, if we stop for a moment to re- 
view the yeai's which Froeliel sjient within col- 
lege walls we must admit that he acquired a 
good education, although it was gained under 
difficulties. Eighteen months at Jena, a year 
at Gottiugen, six months at Berlin, three Uni- 
versity years in all, spread over a period of 
fourteen, this was his peculiar college course, 
supplemented with a good many months of 
professional study. As a result he was thorough- 
ly grounded in mathematics, had an expert 
knowledge of natural history and a training in 
languages which was respectable. He seems 
to have been a faithful student, although there 
is little evidence that he was a brilliant scholar. 
In addition to the learning of the schools he 
also secured the practical experience of a drafts- 
man and surveyor, and taken together, the 
circumstances of his life, as thus far recorded, 
particularly fitted him to be the founder of the 
kindergarten system. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 273 

1813-1814-A SOLDIER OF THE LEGION. 



In the spring of 1813, Freidrich Frcebel, a 
Btudent of the natural sciences in the Univer- 
sity of Berlin, aged thirty-one, enlisted at 
Dresden as a private in the Liitzow corps of the 
German army, under a call of the king for the 
nation to take up arms against Napoleon. In 
writing of that time GeorgEbers, the novelist, 
says, "The snowdrops which bloomed during 
the March days of 1813 ushered in the long- 
desired day of freedom, and the call 'to arms' 
found the loudest echo in the hearts of the 
students." 

At this point in the naiTative we may, per- 
haps, be pardoned for remarking that the critics 
of Froibel have always delighted to embellish 
certain allegations against him with such met- 
aphors of ridicule and invective as they could 
command. One of the principal charges is that 
of effeminacy, which, it must be confessed, 
is somewhat borne out by several of his pictures 
which are on the market and certain charac- 
teristics of dress which he affected. While 
his admirers might be glad to eliminate these 
matters from his private history, if they could, 
it is nevertheless true that the world will for- 
give a man for parting his hair in the middle, 
if his thoughts and acts are such as to render 
him immortal. 

That Frcebel had a realizing sense of wo- 
man's wonderful possibilities in the training of 
young children, which amounted to an inspira- 
tion, is not to be denied. That he delighted in 
gathering the mothers about him in constant 
attempts to give them some inkling of those 
possibilities and that he spent the strength of 
his last years in forming what we now call kin- 
dergarten training classes is well known to all 
who are familiar with his history. That the little 
children loved him and hung about him all his 
days is always admitted. But these things do 
not make a man effeminate. Some of them 
were characteristics of the Son of Man who 
dwelt in Palestine nearly two thousand years 
ago. There was no charge of effeminacy filed 
against Private Friedrich Frcebel while he wore 
the uniform of the Lutzow Jagers or lay in the 
trenches and coolly calculated the velocity of 
the bullets whizzing over his head from the 
annies of Napoleon, as to how much faster 



those which came from the muskets were flying 
than those discharged from the flintlocks. 

He put aside every ambition , took every risk 
of life and limb, health and happiness, for the 
honor of the flag which represented to him the 
head and front of ci\'ilization, the one country 
which was worth living or dying for, as destiny 
might decide. As to his motives in entering 
the army, he says : "It was the feehng and con- 
sciousness of the ideal Germany that I re- 
spected as something high and holy in my 
spirit. Moreover, the finnness with which I held 
to my educational career decided me. Although 
I could not really say that I had a fatherland, 
as I am not a Pi'ussian, it must happen that 
every boy, that every child who should later 
be instructed by me would have a fatherland 
and that fatherland now demanded protection 
when the child himself could not defend it. I 
could not possibly think how a young man, 
capable of bearing arms, could become the 
teacher of children whose country he had not 
defended with his life blood. The summons to 
war appeared to me a sign of the common need 
of man, of the country, of the time in which I 
lived, and I felt that it would be unworthy and 
unmanly not to struggle for the common neces- 
sity of the people among whom one lives, not 
to bear a part toward repelling a common 
danger. Every consideration was secondary 
to these considerations, even that which grew 
out of my bodily constitution, too feeble for 
such a life." Truly sentiments like these 
have been regarded in all ages as belonging to 
"the stuff that heroes are made of." 

Froebel joined the infantry division of the 
Lutzow corps, "Lutzow's Wild, Bold Troop," 
commonly known as the "Lutzow Jagers," and 
marched from Dresden, April 11, 1813. This 
volunteer organization had been formed dur- 
ing theprexdous month by Baron Von Lutzow, 
his instructions being "to harass the enemy by 
constant skirmishes and to encourage the 
smaller Geiman states to rise against the ty- 
rant Napoleon. The corps became celebrated 
for swift, dashing exploits in small bodies. 
Froebel seems to have been in the main body 
and to have seen but little of the more active 
duties of the regiment." 



274 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



Owing to the seclusion of his life in the 
University his comrades were in the beginning 
of the campaign all strangers to him, although 
many of them were Berlin students. At the 
end of the first morning's march the sergeant 
introduced him to a divinity student named 
Heinrich Langethal, born at Erfurt, Septem- 
ber 3, 1792. A little later Langethal in turn 
presented his friend, AVilhelm Middendorf, 
also a divinity student, and a life-long inti- 
macy began between the three, then and there. 
Sliddendorf was a Thuringian, having been 
born in Westphaha, September 20, 1 793. Aside 
from bis connection with Fra?bel his history 
was not eventful. Of him Dr. Ebers writes : — 

"The source of Middendorf 'a greatness in 
the sphere where life and his own choice had 
placed him may even be imputed to him as a 
fault. He, the most enthusiastic of all Froebel's 
disciples, remained to his life's end a lovable 
child, in whom the powers of a rich poetic soul 
surpassed those of the thoughtful, well-trained 
man. He would have been ill-adapted to any 
practical position, but no one could be better 
suited to enter into the soul-life of young hu- 
man beings and to cherish and ennoble them." 

Langethal finished his grammar school 
studies at Erfurt and then entered the LTni- 
versity at BerUn, where he proved himself a 
scholar of unusual talent. Midway in his ca- 
reer there the elevation of the Prussian nation 
led him into the war. He was advised that he 
must not write home to his father of his in- 
tention, because if the letter should be inter- 
cepted his act would be regarded as high 
treason by the French authorities who held sway 
at Erfurt. When asked how he would procure 
the uuifomi of the black Jagers,he answered : 
"The capeof my coat will supply the trousers. 
I can have a red collar put on my cloak, my 
coat can be dyed black and turned into a uni- 
form, and I have a hanger." He had a daunt- 
less spirit that knew no such word as failure. 

The first halt of the corps came at Meissen, 
at the close of a beautiful spring day, when the 
students who were in the command gathered 
together about a long table in an open space 
on the banks of the river Elbe, where they 
greeted and pledged each other with old 
Meissen wine. The three young meu just 
named lingered at the table till midnight, lay- 
ing the foundation of a friendship that has 
since become immortal, and the next morning 



they went together to examine the city's beau- 
tiful cathedral. To this circle Bauer, later 
an instructor in a Berlin grammar school, was 
subsequently admitted, and to those three men 
Frcebel limited all intimate association during 
the campaign. 

In the fragmentary autobiography which 
Frabel some years later prepared for the Duke 
of Meiningen he speaks of these days as fol- 
lows : "My principal care was to improve my- 
self in my present calling, and so one of my 
endeavors was to make clear to myself the 
inner necessity and the connection of demands 
of service and drill ; it came to me very soon 
and easily from the mathematical, physical 
side, aud strengthened me against many little 
reprimands which easily befell others when 
they thought this or that command could be 
omitted, as too trifling." Another writer puts 
the same idea in these words : ' 'The peculiarly 
regular aud orderly inclination of his mind 
made him so accurate in all points of his ser- 
vice that he never gave cause for the little un- 
pleasantnesses which befell mostraw recruits." 

These extracts become of importance when 
considered in tlie light of some modern criti- 
cism which confidently asserts that Fra?bel 
could not have made a good soldier because he 
had no natural aptitude for such service. It 
is evident that he tried to adapt himself to the 
needs of the hour aud his surroundings, no 
matter how great the personal inconvenience. 
That he was a good soldier, as a matter of fact, 
was fully attested by his promotion to be an 
officer in 1815, although he was not allowed 
the opportunity to act iu such a capacity. 

When the corps reached Havelburg there was 
a long halt, occasioned by an armistice, lasting 
from June 4 to August 10, during which the 
four friends sought to be together as nuich as 
possible. The life of the camp was especially 
pleasant to Frcpbel, he saj's, because it made 
many facts of history clear to him. He lived 
in nature as much as he could, and we are told 
that "outhe march, under the hottest July sun, 
when most of the men were trying to get rid 
of everything which they could do without, so 
as to make their knapsacks lighter, Fra*bel col- 
lected all kinds of stones, plants aud mosses 
for his study of nature and filled his knapsack 
with them. At the bivouac fire he brought out 
his treasures to sen'e as the subject of con- 
versation on natm-al history. " 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



275 



There has always been some discussion as to 
how far F'rojbel sliared in the hostilities of this 
campaign. Boweu in his biography says that 
of actual fighting his regiment saw nothing, 
a statement that is e\'idently without founda- 
tion. Fra?bel modestly speaks of the "few 
battles in which we took part." There can be 
no question, however, that Froebel found time 
for the active cultivation of the practical study 
of natural historj' and the cementing of a 
friendship with Middendorf, Langethal and 
Bauer. At times the four friends indulged in 
pedagogical and philosophical discussions 
which were greatly to their mutual edification. 
"In this way," wi-ites Fr«bel, "we passed, at 
least I did, our war life as a dream. Now and 
then, at Leipzig, at Dalenburg, at Bremen, at 
Berlin, we seemed to wake up ; but soon sank 
back into feeble dreaminess again." 

The Lutzow corps marched through that 
section of Germany known as the Mark of 
Braudenbiug, of which Berlin is a part, going 



in tlie latter part of August, 1813, through 
Priegnitz, JNIacklenljurg, the districts of Bre- 
men, Hamburg andHolstein, and coming to the 
Rhine in the last days of the year. Napoleon 
abdicated in the spring of 1814, went to Elba 
as an exile April 20, and the peace of Paris 
was proclaimed May 30. Meanwhile Froebel's 
regiment was stationed in the Netherlands till 
July, when all the volunteers who did not care 
to serve longer were honorably discharged. 

Doubtless Frrebel was a better man and a bet- 
ter kindergartner because of his military ser^•ice. 
In later years he brought into the kindergarten 
the spirit of patriotism which will always be 
one of its prominent characteristics, wherever 
it is estal^lished. He also brought into it the 
stirring marches and lively music which the 
military camp suggests. And although the kin- 
dergarten must always be regarded as a mighty 
bulwark of the kingdom of peace, we may weU 
ask what would it be worth with these things 
taken out of it ? 



1814—1S16— CURATOR AT BERLIN. 



When Fro?bel entered the army he received 
the promise of a position under the Prussian 
government at the close of the war, that of 
assistant in the miueralogical museimi at Ber- 
lin under Prof. "Weiss, who had been his in- 
structor, a post that was offered him through 
the influence of friends. Consequently his 
first thought on quitting the army was to secure 
for himself this coveted place, and so he set 
his face toward BerUn, arri^•ing there early in 
August, haNnug stopped ou the way at Lunen, 
Mainz, Frankfort and Rudolstadt, moved by 
a desu'e to visit once more the region of his 
buth. 

He began his duties as curator in the mu- 
seum at once. He was occupied most of each 
day in the care and arrangement of minerals 
in a room which was perfectly quiet and which 
he kept locked against all intruders. The in- 
vestigation and explanation of crystals also 
formed a part of his duties. Regarding this 
period of his life, he writes : "While engaged 
in this work I continually proved to be true 
what had long been a presentiment with me 
that even in these so-called lifeless stones and 
fragments of rock, torn from their original 
bed, there lay germs of transforming, develop- 



ing energy and acti%ity. Amidst the diversity 
of forms around me, I recognized under all 
kinds of various modifications one law of de- 
velopment. Therefore my rocks and crystals 
served me as a mirror wherein I might descry 
manlvind, and man's development and history. 
Geology and crystallography not only opened 
up for me a higher circle of knowledge and in- 
sight, but also showed me a higher good for 
my inquiry, my speculation and my endeavor." 
These discoveries made Fro-bel think for a 
time that he would like to fit himself to teach in 
some University, but he soon gave up the idea, 
belie\-ing that he was "generally deficient in 
the preparatory studies necessary for the higher 
branches of natural science." Another reason 
why he relinquished the desire for such a career 
resulted from his reflection that the amount of 
interest shown in their work by the University 
students of his day was too little to attract him 
to a professorship. On this theme he remarks : 
"The opportunities I had of observing the 
natural history students of that time, their 
very slight knowledge of their subject, their 
deficiency of perceptive power, their still 
greater want of the true scientific spuit, warned 
me back from such a plan." 



276 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



During his service as a curator lie coutiuued 
itteudiug lectures on mineralogy, crystallog- 
rapliy, and geology and also on the history 
of ancient pliilosopiiy. Those were months 
of marked development for the young man, who 
still had the work of life before him. They 
made up the one brief period of his career 
when he was prosperous and at peace with the 
world, unless we except a few months passed 
at Marienthal, thirty-five years later. They 
served to so perfect his studies of natural his- 
tory that those studies bore excellent fruit when 
he came to present to the world the kinder- 
garten system of education. No one who had 
not first made the forms of crystallography 
aprofound study could have brought them into 
that system as an integral part of it in the way 
thatFroebel did. 

During the last months of his term as a sol- 
dier Frcel^el became separated from his friends, 
Laugethal, ISIiildeudorf aud Bauer, so that 
when he left the army he did not know where 
they were. All three of them, however, soon 
returned to Berlin, to resume their theological 
studies. Meanwhile Napoleon had ended his 
exile at Elba, resumed his former place as em- 
peror of France aud for a few short weeks men- 
aced Europe as of old. A new war cloud hung 
over Germany in the spring of 1815, and the 
four friends re-enlisted. "On account of our 
previous service" says Frcebel, "and by royal 
favor, we were at once promoted to officer's 
rank and each one was appointed to a regi- 
ment. There was such a throng of volunteers, 
however, that it was not necessary for any 
state officials to leave their posts or for stu- 
dents to interrupt their studies, and we there- 
fore received counter orders commanding us 
to stay at home." 

Middendorf came to room with Frcebel, pend- 
ing liis expected departure for the war, and in 
this way the two were brought into close com- 
panionship for several months. About this 
time both Langethal and Middendorf became 
tutors in private families, to secure means for 
continuing their studies, and they appealed to 
Frojbel to instruct them for two hours a week 
in the best methods of teaching arithmetic, 
which he gladly did. 

It was during his curatorship at Berlin that 
Frcebel first met Henrietta 'Wilhehiiine Hoff- 
meister, whom he subsequently married. She 
was the daughter of an official of the Pi'ussian 



war department, was born at Berlin, Septem- 
ber 20, 1780, had been a pupil of Schleier" 
macher and Fichte and was highly cultured. 
She had previously married an official connected 
with the war office named Klepper, but had 
separated from him because of his misconduct. 
She came to the museum on one occasion aud 
we are told that Froibel "was wonderfully 
sti-uck by her, especially because of the readi- 
ness with which she entered into his educational 
ideas." Langethal and Middeudorf were well 
acquainted with the family and had often 
spoken to him about her. 

Frcebel remained at Berlin till October,1816, 
when lie left suddenly and without giving his 
friends any definite idea of his future plans. 
He had, in 1815, declined the offer of a valuable 
post as mineralogist at Stockholm and he se- 
cured his discharge from the museum against 
the earnest remonstrauce of Prof. Weiss. 

The reason for his actiou soon became ap- 
parent, however. Christoph Fra?bel, his well- 
beloved elder brother, who has been so often 
mentioned in these pages, died of typhus fever 
in 1813, while nursing French soldiers in the 
hospitals. He was settled as a clergyman at 
Griesheim and left a widow aud three sons. 
The mother wrote toFriedrich Fra'bel in 1816, 
expressing her anxiety regarding the proper 
education of the boj's and ap[)ealing to him 
for advice. It was this letter that caused him 
to make the sudden resolve to give up his place 
in the museum. We are told that he had 
hardly finished reading it when his latent in- 
terest in the education of man suddenly mani- 
fested itself in all power aud energy and pushed 
him irresistably forward to take up again his 
natural vocation and lie a teacher. He deter- 
mined to devote himself to the education of 
his nephews, and as a preliminary step lie trav- 
eled from Berlin to Osterode, where his brother 
Christian had become a spinner and dyer of 
linen thread. There the brothers held a consul- 
tation aud it was decided that Friedrich should 
openaschool at Griesheim, the primary object 
being the training of Christoph's children, aud 
that Christian should also send his two sous to 
this school. Friedrich took the latter with Lim, 
the elder being eight aud his brother six years 
old, aud began his teaching November 16,1816, 
calling himself aud the five pupils ' 'The Univei- 
sal German Educational Institute," although 
they were housed in a peasant's cottage. 




< 



a 
2 



a 
a 

Q 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 
1817— 1831-PRINCIPAL AT KEILHAU. 



277 



Frcebel tarried at Grieshcim but a few 
months. In the summer of 1817 his sister-in- 
law, owing to the death of her fatlier, decided, 
to move her family to Keilhau, where she 
bought a small farm. The school went with 
her and was re-opened June 24. The hamlet 
of Keilhau lies on the mountain side about five 
miles south-west of Rudolstadt, guarded by 
nature on three sides with protecting walls, 
which keep the wind from entering the -village. 

It is one of the most attractive spots in the 
Thuringian Forest, which is not a region of 
great height, but famous for its beautiful val- 
leys, offering a great variety of the most beau- 
tiful scenery to be found anywhere. 

The primitive condition of the village of Keil- 
hau, as late as 1815, seems strange enough 
to us. "Although not poor," says one writer, 
"the peasants had remained in the condition 
of the Middle Ages. Three houses retained 
the old form of Thuringian architecture and 
the date of 1532 was to be seen over the door 
of one of them. The church with its pretty 
tower was nevertheless more like a cellar than 
the house of God. In the midst of the vil- 
lage a water course marked the street and five 
springs kept the road wet all the time. There 
were only about one hundred inhabitants and 
the living of the peasants was very simple. 
As had been done five hundred years before, 
the mayor still counted off on a notched stick 
the number of measures of wheat which each 
man was bound to pay as corn tax or tithe. 
He also gave orally to the peasants any new 
regulations of the government, and in order to 
keep up a military appearance a day watch- 
man paraded the village with a broad halberd 
over his shoulder. The dress of the old man 
was what he had worn in his youth, and that 
of the women descended from the mother to 
daughter." 

The beginnings of the school at Keilhau were 
very humble. The teachers, Froebel and Mid- 
dendorf, during the summer of 1817, lived in a 
wretched little hut with neither door, flooring 
or stove, while Frabel was building a school- 
house. The quarters assigned him had for- 
merly served as a place for keeping hens. In 
July Langethal graduated from the Univer- 



sity at Berlin with the highest honors and in 
September he visited Keilhau to see his old 
comi'ades and take his brother to Silesia, where 
he had an engagement as tutor to the young 
nobility. Frojbel received him with the ut- 
most cordiality and the sight of the robust, 
merry boys who were lying on the floor that 
evening building forts and castles with the 
wooden blocks which Fra'bel had made for 
them, according to his own plan, excited the 
keenest interest. He had come to take his 
brother away ; but when he saw him among 
other happy companions of his own age com- 
plete the finest structure of all, a Gothic Ca- 
thedral, it seemed almost wrong to tear the 
child from this circle. The result of this visit 
was that Langethal decided to stay at Keilhau 
with his brother, so that there might be a trio of 
teachers, and a great gain he was to the insti- 
tution, where his life work was done. More 
pupils arrived when he did and the new build- 
ing was completed in November. 

When Frcebel first came to Griesheim he 
told his sister-in-law that he wished to be a 
father to her orphaned children, a statement 
which she interpreted to suggest an ultimate 
marriage between him and herself. He, how- 
ever, had never intended it in that sense, and 
after reaching Keilhau he offered himself by 
letter to Henrietta Hoffmeister of Berlin, ask- 
ing that she would give her life to the advance- 
ment of those educational ideas in which she 
had shown so deep an interest during their 
interview in the museum. She received his 
proposal favorably, but her father made ob- 
jection and refused to give her any dowry. 
The record says that "she had hved all her life 
in comfortable, almost affluent circumstances. 
But she relinquished everything, even the home 
of which she was the light and joy, a dear 
mother and greatly beloved father who adored 
her, to devote her whole life and being to the 
apostle of a new education, whose ideas and 
schemes had elevated her soul as with the Ught 
of di\ine insph-ation." When the widow of 
Christolph Froebel learned of the engagement 
she made over her property to Friedrich, and 
wenttohveat Valkstadt in June, 1818. 

The wedding occmTed September 20, the 



278 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



bride being tliirty-eight tliat day, and the 
groom two years younger. She brought with 
her to Keilhau an adopted daughter, Ernestine 
Chrispine. "Never," says one writer, "has 
man found a better helpmate than this woman 
was to Fro?bel. She devoted herself to the as- 
sistance of the Keilhau teachers aud their edu- 
cational mission with her whole being ; made 
willingly any necessary sacrifice ; submitted 
willingly to every jirivation ; lived through 
days of most jnunful struggles with poverty 
and want, and did this all with a courage and 
devotion that was a shining example to all the 
women, who have since devoted their lives to 
the realization of Fra'bel's ideas." 

In order to do exact justice to Frau Froebel, 
wlio is so often and so deservedly praised, it 
may be necessary to add this quotation : 
"Frcebel's wife was revered and beloved in the 
highest degree by the whole pedagogical group 
and by Fra?l)el was ever treated with deepest 
tenderness and esteem. Eye witnesses assert, 
however, that although a very capable woman 
she was not perfectly quahfled to guide the 
helm of so large and composite a household 
with sufficient circumspection and tact, aud 
that in the idea of 'unity of life' which Froe- 
bel wished to realize there was at times some- 
thing wanting, in spite of the poetic, yes idyllic 
character of the lives of these amiable and 
noble-minded idealists, who were ready to be- 
come martyrs to their philanthi-opic and pure 
principles." 

What the privations endured during those 
years really were we can hardly conceive. Frce- 
bel says : "We had now a severe struggle for 
existence for the whole time, up to 1820. With 
all our efforts we nevei' could get the school- 
house enlarged ; other still more necessary 
buildings had to be erected first." As an illus- 
tration of the straits to which Froebel was sub- 
jected, it is stated by an associate, who had 
the incident from his own lips, that at one time 
during his early struggles to put the school on 
its feet he had to live for a week on two large 
loaves of bread, on which he first measured 
the daily portions with chalk marks, so that 
he should not cut off more than the allotted 
part. We arc told, moreover, that he was not 
afraid of long journeys on foot for the benefit 
of the cause, from which he often returned 
with bleeding feet, aud that many a night he 
slept in the open air to save traveling expenses 



and then gave the money to some poor child 
to support him in tiie school. 

Shortly after Frcebel's marriage the father 
of Middendorf died, and he, without any hesi- 
tation, devoted the whole of his inheritance to 
the institution. Early in the year 1820 Ohria- 
tian Froebel decided to give up his manufac- 
turing business at Osterode and join the com- 
munity with his wife aud three daughters, the 
two sons being already members of the school. 
He also invested all his property in the ven- 
ture. The completion of the schooLhouse was 
now pushed with zeal, a work that ended in 
1822. The following year Johannas Arnold 
Barop, liorn at Dortmaud in 1802, a nephew 
of Middendorf aud a di^^nity student at HaUe, 
\isited Keilhau and decided to remain as a 
teacher, much to the disgust of his family. He 
eventually became the mainstay of the whole 
enterprise. 

At this time the Keilhau family began to 
enjoy greater comforts in hfe. It was found 
that "the wonderful enthusiasm of the teach- 
ers aud the wisdom of the educational methods 
employed, had, in a few years, made the aver- 
age pupil of the Keilhau school so greatly su- 
perior to the average pupil of all other educa- 
tional establistiments of the coimti-y, that the 
nundjer of pupils increased rapidly and money 
began to flow more freely into the households 
of all the teachers." 

It was in the summer of 1826 that both 
Middendorf aud Langethal were man-ied, the 
former choosing for his wife Albertine,the eld- 
est daughter of Christian Froibel, aud his com- 
rade taking Ernestine Chrispiue, the adopted 
daughter of Friedrich Frcebel's wife. Barop 
married Emihe, Christian Frcebel's second 
daughter, in 1828, and the third one in due 
season wedded another of the teachers. 

It will hardly be possible within the limits 
of this brief narrative to give the full history 
of Frojbel's career as principal of the Keilhau 
school. But in order to get a glimpse of the 
institution during its most prosperous days un- 
der the leadership of its f ouuder we must quote 
from the reminiscences of Col. Hermann Vou 
Aruswald, who was a pupil there for three 
years about 1824-26, as found in the intro- 
duction of "Frcebel's Letters." He says that 
when he reached the school Froebel took Mm 
iuimediately to the boys, with whom he was 
soon at home, so thoroughly, in fact, that it 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



279 



made his mother feel quite sad to see how 
cheerful her boy was at parting, wheu tears 
filled her own eyes. 

The account goes on to explain that in the 
domestic life of the institution strict order had 
to be obsen'ed, and great care was taken to 
promote personal cleanliness, new comers be- 
ing examined every morning before breakfast 
to see that there was no lack in this respect. 
And woe to the boy who was reckoned defi- 
cient, because his allowance of milk for break- 
fast was cut off, and he had to be content with 
only a piece of bread. This reduction of ra- 
tions was almost the sole punishment that was 
deemed necessary. Whoever deserved correc- 
tion was sure to find at dinner or supper a 
piece of bread on his plate, which indicated 
that he must pass by all other dishes without 
tasting them. On one occasion Von Arnswald 
yielded to the temptation of eating a straw- 
berry, taken from the supper table before the 
meal was quite ready. Fra'bel saw the act 
and as a consequence the ominous piece of 
bread was put on his plate. The boy who did 
any damage at Keilhau must see to its being 
repaired personally, and the colonel remembers 
one luckless fellow who having carelessly or 
mischievously bioken a window had to take 
the frame on his back for five miles before he 
could get it mended. 

During the three years of Col. Von Arns- 
wald's stay at the school no doctor ever set foot 
there. The small injuries that occurred occa- 
sionally in the gymnasium were always cured 
by the boys' mutual helpfulness. One day 
when he was at the top of the climbing rope 
hia strength gave out and he slid so fast to the 
bottom that his hands were badly blistered and 
he could not dress without help for a month. 
During that time his chum cared for the 
wounded members, but nobody else noticed the 
mishap. Another peculiarity of this school 
was the absence of all vacations. No pupil 
ever went home for a while and then returned. 
But a tramp through the woods extending over 
several days was repeatedly made during the 
summer season. On such occasions coffee and 
cakes were served, and the birthdays of the 
teachers joyfully remembered. Ordinarily the 
pupils drank nothing but milk and water. 

The anniversary of the battle of Leipzig, 
the loss of which forced Napoleon to withdraw 
his armies from Germany, was always cele- 



brated on the 18th of October, the national 
sentiment being powerfully developed. A big 
fire was lighted on the mountain top that even- 
ing, "and when the flames raised their golden 
tongues skyward, popular and patriotic songs 
were sung, and we listened to the inspiring 
words of our teachers, every one of whom had 
fought through the wars of deliverance as a 
volunteer, all having been faithful comiades 
in the service of the great fatherland." 

When winter came it brought frequent 
sleigh rides on the ice, and the boys were some- 
times called out of bed for this pastime. On 
Christmas eve they were treated to poppy soup, 
which made them sleep soundly till five o'clock 
in the morning, when they were summoned to 
a short religious service, gifts were distributed 
and they were taken to church. Col. Von 
Arnswald sums up his story with these signifi- 
cant words : "I lived at Keilhau for three years. 
At the end of that time I went home to the 
house of my parents healthy in soul and body. 
After a life so natural and so completely se- 
cluded from all the injurious impressions of the 
outside world there could not have been any 
other result than perfect health." 

For fourteen years Froebel was at the head 
of the Keilhau school. The highest num- 
ber of pupils during that time seems to have 
been about sixty, and in 1829 it dwindled to 
five. As an educational experiment it was in 
great measure a real success, though it did not 
reach Fra?bel's ideal. All mental requirements 
were richly provided for, and his own ^•iew8 
of education carried out as far as time would 
allow, considering the imperative necessity of 
preparing the boys for the University ; but the 
material wants were met with great difficulty 
and in the poorest fashion. "None of the no- 
ble men connected with the school had in the 
remotest degree," says one writer, "imagined 
what great sums were required for the found- 
ing and continuing of so extensive an institu- 
tion as they had iu vi^^w, and were expending 
little by little. It was very nearly true that 
they shared with each other, loN-ingly and trust- 
ingly, all they possessed, for it could be affirmed 
of them as of the first Christians 'No one said 
that anything was his own.'" 

The account goes on to relate, "It was in 
vain that every item of income was devoted 
to the common use and that e.ach one joyfully 
brought to the sacrifice all his goods and chat- 



280 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



tels, Ms inheritance and earnings." Frcebel 
was too much of a philanthropist to derive 
very much gain from the pupils. He could 
not turn away an oiphan or the child of a 
widow merely because only half could be paid 
to him, so that the school, well filled though 
it was, yielded too little profit to enable it to 
sustain itself." Moreover, as Emily Shirreff 
points out in her biographical sketch, Froebel 
was by nature a man in whose hands material 
interests could not prosper. He had no prac- 
tical ability of any kind ; and being engrossed 
with the interest of carrying into effect the 
cherished views which had become a part of 
his very life, he was probably less fitted than 
ever to calculate and dwell upon i)rudential 
and economical considerations. 

Barop had constantly hoped for support from 
his well-to-do family, but they had never ap- 
proved of his connection with the school and 
finally withdrew from him altogether. Little 
by little all sources of help were exhausted, 
while the needs of the school continually grew. 
The credit of the managers began to sink, so 
that "malevolence followed in their track and 
suspicion stalked around them in all kinds of 
deformity." 

Some of their troubles arose from political 
causes. Among the patriots who had fought 
in the war and the generation of University 
students which came after them there was 
much enthusiasm for German unity and liberty, 
and here and there not a little wild socialistic 
talk. The Keilhau community had adopted the 
German dress, and both teachers and pupils 
allowed their hair to grow long, and for these 
reasons the Prussian govermnent became sus- 
picious of the school and in September, 1824, 
induced the local prince to appoint Superin- 
tendent Zeh to investigate the institute and 
make a report regarding it. 

This oflicial came to the school November 
23, and again March 1st, 1825, and the very 
favoiable report which he made in detail is 
still presented, and a part of it is worth 
quoting. "I found here," said the inspector, 
"what is never and nowhere shown in real life, 
a timely and closely united family of some sixty 
members, living in quiet harmony, all showing 
that they gladly perform the duties of their 
various positions ; a family in which, because 
it is held together by the strong hand of mutual 
confidence, and because every member seeks 



the good of the whole, everything, as of itself, 
thrives in happiness and love." 

"With respect and hearty affection all turn to 
the principal; the little five years old children 
cling to his knees, while his friends and col- 
leagues hear and honor his advice with the con- 
fidence which his insight and experience and his 
indefatigable zeal for the good of the whole 
desen-e ; while he has bound himself to his 
fellow- workers, as the supports and pillars of 
his life work, which to him is ti-uly a 'holy 
work.' 

' ' Self acti^•ity of mind is the first law of the 
institution ; therefore the kind of instruction 
given there does not make the young mind a 
strong box into which as early as possible 
all kinds of coin of the most different values 
and coinage, such as are now current in the 
world, are stuffed; but slowly, continuously, 
gradually and always inwardly, that is accord- 
ing to a connection founded upon the nature 
of the human mind, the instruction steadily 
goes on, without any tricks, from the simple to 
the complex, from the concrete to the abstract, 
so well-adapted to the child and his needs that 
he goes as readily to his learning as to his jilay . " 

This report was made to the local prince of 
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, and of course he 
could make no move against the school after 
such a report, had he wished to do so, therefore 
he directed the conununity to dress like other 
people and cut their hair, a very Solomon's 
judgment, says Bowen, foi- there was nothing 
else the matter with them. 

But the agitation which led to this report 
caused nearly all the patrons of the school to 
take their boys away from it. Moreover, for 
years trouble had been fermenting from within 
as well as without. One of the teachers, named 
Herzog, set himself in stubborn opposition to 
the principal and drew Froebel's sister-in-law 
and her sons to his side of the controversy ; 
the three nephews quarreled with their imcle 
and left in 1824; Herzog soon followed and 
industriously libelled the institute for some 
time. 

All of these causes placed the school under 
a temporary cloud. In writing on the "Critical 
Moments of Frcebel's Life" Barop describes 
the situation with a graphic pen. "The num- 
ber of our pupils, he remarks, "had diminished 
to five or six, and consequently the vanish- 
ing little revenue increased the burden of 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



281 



debts to a height that made us dizzy. From 
all sides creditors rushed in, urged on by attor- 
neys, who washed their hands in our misery. 
Froebel vanished through the back door to the 
mountain wheu the duns appeared and it was 
left to Middeudorf to quiet most of them in 
a degree which only he can believe possible 
who has been acquainted with Middeudorf's 
influence over man." 

For a time relief from all these troubles was 
promised because of the expected help of the 
duke of Meiuingen. Several influential friends 
of the Keilhau work called his attention to it 
and as a result he sent for Froebel to explain 
a scheme for an educational institute to in- 
clude with the ordinary "literary" branches in- 
struction in carpentry, weaving, bookbind- 
ing and tilling the ground. Half the school 
hours were to l)e devoted to study and the other 
half were to be occupied by some sort of handi- 
work. This plan was the work of all the Keil- 
hau teachers and the duke was much pleased 
with it. He proposed to place the estate of 
Helba, with thirty acres of land and a yearly 
grant of some five hundred dollars, at Frcebel's 
disposal, as an aid in carrying out the scheme. 
These negotiations began in 1827, and it was 
then that Froebel wrote out the story of his life 
previous to 1816, for the iuformation of the 
duke. This record breaks ofl" abruptly and 
probably was never presented to the duke. 
Secret influences were set at work to change 
the duke's purpose regarding the new educa- 
tional plans and his right-hand man in such 
matters, fearing lest Fra-bel's influence should 
supplant his own, did all that he could to pre- 
vent the establishment of the industrial school. 
Consequently the duke proposed, in 1831, as 
a compromise, that Frcebel begin with an ex- 
perimental establishment of twenty-five pupils. 
Froebel felt that he had been betrayed and re- 
fused to except such an offer or to have any- 
thing more to do with the duke. 

Meanwhile Frcebel had formed a close friend- 
ship with the celebrated philosopher Carl 
Krause, under peculiar circumstances. In 
1822 two articles by Froebel describing his 
work at Keilhau, which had been previously 
printed in another form, appeared in the "Isis," 
a noted scientific journal edited and published 
by Lorenz Oken. During the following year 
Krause contributed an article to the same pe- 
riodical criticising in some particulars what 



Froebel had written. The latter was too much 
occupied with his regular work to give the 
matter much attention at the time, but five years 
later, under date of March 24, 1828, he wrote 
Krause a long letter in reply, which was fol- 
lowed by atrip to Gottiugen by Fnebel and 
Middendorf in the fall of that year that they 
might become personally acquainted with 
Krause. Long discussions on education took 
place during this celebrated meeting and Kiause 
made Froebel familiar with the works of Co- 
menius, "and introduced him to the whole 
learned society of Gottiugen, where he made a 
great and somewhat peculiar impression." 
There can be no doubt but that his relations 
with Krause at this time had considerable to 
do in shaping Frcebel's future course in re- 
spect to the kindergarten. 

As soon as Froebel decided that he could no 
longer depend on the duke for any substantial 
help he went to Frankfort to discuss his diffi- 
culties with friends in that city and this step 
resulted in his practically relinquishing the 
control of affairs at Keilhau, although he spent 
many months of his subsequent life there. 

A brief review of Frcebel's writings while he 
was principal at Keilhau should naturally be 
included in the account of this period. His 
first published essay appeared in 1822, the title 
being, "On the Universal Gei-man Educational 
Institute of Rudolstadt," which was followed 
in 1823, by a "Continuation of the Account of 
the Universal German Educational Institute at 
Keilhau." The next year be printed a paper 
on "Christmas at Keilhau ;" "A Christmas Gift 
to the Parents of the Pupils at Keilhau, to the 
Friends and Members of the Institute." In 
1826 "The Education of Man " was brought 
out, the full title beiug as follows : "The Edu- 
cation of Man, The Art of Education, In- 
struction and Training Aimed At in the Edu- 
cational Institute at Keilhau," written by its 
principal, F. W. A. Frcebel, Volume I; "To 
the Beginning of Boyhood, Keilhau, 1826." 
Published b}' the Institute. Sold in commission 
at Leipzig by C. F.Darffling, 497 pages. That 
same year Froebel undertook to edit and pub- 
lish, at Leipzig and Keilhau, "The Family 
Weekly Journal of Education." In speaking 
of these writings one editor of Frcebel's biogra- 
phy, Emilie Michaelis.says : "Froebel in his 
unbusinesslike way, published all these produc- 
tions privately. They came out, of course, un- 



282 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



der every clisadvantyge, mid could only reach 
the hands of learned persons, and those to 
■whom they were really of interest by merely 
a chance. Further, Frcebel, as has already 
abundantly appeared, was but a poor author. 
His stiff, turgid style makes his works in many 
places most difficult to understand, as the pre- 
sent translators have found to their cost, and 
he was therefore pratically unreadable to the 
general public. In his usual self-absoibed 
fashion lie did not perceive these deficiences 
of his, nor could he be made to see the folly of 
private publication. Indeed, on the contrary, 
he dreamed of fabulous sums which one day he 
was to realize from the sale of his works. It 



is needless to add that the event proved very 
much the reverse." 

Thus closes an important period of fourteen 
years in Frcebel's life, a formative, educating 
period, like all those which had gone before. 
For him to found the Keilhau school, an insti- 
tution which has to this day maintained an il- 
lustrious reputation, was indeed an honor. But 
Keilhau did more for him than he did for Keil- 
hau, it disciplined him for the immortal work 
of later years. Had he been successful as its 
principal he would have been content with 
the place for the rest of his days, and conse- 
quently the world would never have heard of 
the kindergarten. 



1831— 1837— IN SWITZERLAND. 



It was in the month of May, 1831, that Frte- 
bel went to Frankfort, and there he chanced to 
meet the noted musician and naturalist Zavier 
Schnyder of Wartensee, in the canton of Lu- 
cerne. He told this new acquaintance of what 
he liad tried to do at Keilhau and how the work 
had resulted. He enlisted his sympathy and 
"exercised upon him that overpowering influ- 
ence which is the peculiar jji-oijerty of creative 
minds." Schnyder appreciated the man and 
his efforts and we are told that he fairly begged 
Frcebel to open a school in his castle at "War- 
tensee. The offer was accepted without debate 
and Froebel at once departed for Switzerland, 
taking Ferdinand Fra'bel, the oldest son of his 
brother Christian, with him, Middendorf as- 
suming the helm at Keilhau for the time being. 
The uncle and nephew located themselves in 
the castle so kindly placed at their disposal, 
with its splendid library, abundance of silver 
plate and elegant furniture, and began their 
school with a few peasant children from the 
immediate neigliborhood . 

But obstacles sprang np before these en- 
thusiasts had really secured a foothold in their 
new quarters. The opposition of the local 
clergy against the "heretics" and foreigners 
was from the first pronounced and aggressive. 
It prevented pupils coming to them from any 
distance and from families who were well-to-do, 
and so limited their income by the narrowest 
bounds. It also caused the people about them 
to harbor the continual susjiicion that they 
were ready to do something which would in- 
jure the community. Added to the hate of the 



priests, according to some writers, was the 
malevolence of Herzog,a native of that section, 
who had been deposed from his place as teacher 
at Keilhau some years previous, because he had 
shown himself to be a promoter of strife. 
Moreover, the teachers found their rooms in the 
castle very inconvenient for school purposes, 
but the owner would not consent to addition 
or alteration on any account. 

Such was their condition at the end of a 
few months, when Barop joined them, having 
tramped there from Keilhau, where their friends 
had become concerned about them and ap- 
pointed him a messenger to report how they 
were faring. He remained in Switzerland more 
than a year. Soon after his arrival the three 
friends were sitting in a hotel near Wartensee, 
talking about their difficulties with some strang- 
ers who happened to be there, and the con- 
versation was overheard by some business men 
from the neighboring town of Willisau, who 
became much interested in what was said. 
They went home and reported what Frcebel 
and his associates were trying to do in the 
interest of education, and soon an in\itation 
came from twenty families in "Willisau to re- 
move the school to that place. An associa- 
tion was formed to support it and a building 
which resembled a castle was secured for it, 
by consent of the authorities of the canton. 
Some forty pupils entered the school as soon 
as it was relocated and for a time ])rosperity 
seemed assured. 

But the fury of the priests blazed out afresh 
and the teachers went about in fear of their 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



283 



lives. On one occasion during a church fes- 
tival a fanatical Capuchin monk made such 
a fierce speech against them that everybody 
present expected that a riot must result. While 
the tirade was going on Froebel stood in the 
crowd directly facing the monk, without mov- 
ing a muscle or changing a feature, and his 
two associates appeared equally oblivious to 
their danger. Strange to relate, no hand was 
raised against the heretics, and after the monk 
had disappeared they passed quietly through 
the threatening mob. 

Barop resolved to procure protection if it 
could be obtained, and laid the matter before 
the mayor, who advised that a public exami- 
nation of the pupils be held, as a means of 
winning popular esteem. It occurred on a beau- 
tiful autumnal day, being attended by a great 
crowd from different cantons, and a number 
of officials. It began at seven in the morn- 
ing and continued till seven in the evening, 
closing with games and gymnastic exercises 
by the whole school. It was a great success 
in every way, and as a result glowing speeches 
about the school were made in the council of 
the canton and that body voted to let the castle 
to Frffibel and his associates at a low rate and 
to expel from the canton the monk wlio had 
attacked them. A Uttle later, in 1833, Barop 
returned to Keilhau and became its principal. 
Gradually he raised the financial standing of 
the school, continuing there till his death, 
many years later, and handing it down to his 
son, the present principal. 

Just before Barop decided to return to Keil- 
hau a deputation of citizens came from Berne 
to invite Frwhel to organize an orphanage at 
Burgdorf, in addition to his work at AVillisau, 
and he accepted the task on condition that other 
pupils should be admitted besides 'orphans. 
Ikliddendorf came from Keilhau to take the 
place of Barop, locating at AVillisau with Ferdi- 
nand Froebel, while Friedrich Frcebel and his 
wife took up the new enterprise at Burgdorf. 
In connection with the regular instruction given 
at the orphanage FrcEbel was required to con- 
duct what was called a Repetitive Course for the 
teachers of the canton. They were given three 
months' leave of absence from their regular 
duties once in tn-o years, during which time 
they were gathered at Burgdorf for special 
study. Concerning this period in Frffibel's hfe 
Barop writes as follows : "Froebel had to pre- 



side over the debates and to conduct the studies 
which were pursued in common. His own ob- 
servations and the remarks of the teachers 
brought to him a new conviction that all 
school education was as yet witliout a proper 
foundation, and that, until the education of the 
nursery was reformed, nothing solid and worthy 
could be attained. The uecessitj' of training 
gifted, capable mothers occupied his soul, and 
the importance of the education of childhood's 
earliest years l)ecame more evident to him than 
ever. He determined to set forth fully his 
ideas on education, which the tyranny of a 
thousand opposing circumstances had always 
prevented him from working out in their com- 
pleteness ; or at all events to do this as regards 
the earliest years of man, and then to win over 
the world of women to the actual accomplish- 
ment of his plans." 

After a stay of three years at Burgdorf the 
health of Fran Fra'bel broke down and the doc- 
tors ordered her to seek another climate. In 
June, 1836, she and her husband went to Ber- 
lin, the immediate cause of the journey being 
the death of her mother and the necessity of 
adjusting some matters ]5ertaining to her inheri- 
tance. While he tarried at Berlin the funda- 
mental thought of all his educational efforts 
made a deeper impress than ever before on 
Fra?bersniiud. There it was that his hours of 
musing were occupied with the plan which was 
taking shape for the early education of little 
children. It was now clear to him that the 
earliest childhood is the most important time 
for human development, and that in the child's 
behalf play as his first activity, must be spirit- 
ualized and systematically treated. 

He naturally felt that his native Germany 
was the country in which to work out these 
ideas and he never returned to Switzerland. 
Langethal s\'ent from Keilhau to take Frojbel's 
place, and for a time he and Ferdinand Frffi- 
bel were directors of the Burgdorf school. 
Then Langethal left it to take charge of a girls' 
school at Berne, and not long after Ferdinand 
Frcebel died, being sincerely mourned by the 
whole community. The Willisau institute was 
given up also, Middendorf returning to his 
famity at Keilhau, and thus it happened that the 
educational experiment in Switzerland lasted 
only a few years and met with but limited 
success, compared with the mental and physi- 
cal effort that it cost. 



284 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



1S37— 1844— BLANKENBURG. 



After a few months, iu 1837, Froebel and 
Ms wife came to Keilhau once more, and 
there the idea of the kindergarten burst upon 
him. He wi-ote at once to Berlin for his first 
materials for the plays and occupations, and 
selected, with the help of his friend Barop, who 
was the principal of the Keilhau school, the 
neighboring village of Blaukenburg, a little 
south-west of Keilhau, fortlie launching of his 
new enterprise, a place which he felt, on ac- 
count of its healthy location, would make the 
best home for his invalid wife. 

In giving an account of these days Barop 
writes as follows : ""Wlien Froebel came back 
from Beilin the idea of an institution for little 
children was fully formed in him. I rented 
him a locality iu the neighboring Blankenburg. 
For a long time he could find no name for his 
cause. Middendorf and I were one day walk- 
ing to Blankenburg with him over the Steiger 
Pass. He kept on repeating, "Oh, if I could 
only find a name for my youngest child." 
Blankenburg lay at our feet and he walked 
moodily toward it. Suddenly he stood still as 
if riveted to the spot, and his eyes grew won- 
derfully bright. Then he shouted to the moun- 
tain so that it echoed to the four winds, 'Eu- 
reka, Kindergarten shall the institution be 
called.'" This was literally a "mountain mo- 
ment" in his life, a brief period of inspiration 
which counted for more than months of every- 
day existence. After finding the right name 
Froebel determined to make an effort to put the 
■whole establishment at Blankenburg on a satis- 
factory financial basis and include in it a train- 
ing college in which women teachers should be 
shown how to deal with little children up to the 
age of seven. 

The house where Froebel lived and labored 
at Blankenburg remains to-day as it appeared 
then, a large, unattractive, three-story structure 
on the hillside. It is still used for school pur- 
poses and bears on the front a tablet of black 
and gold with these words : "Friedrich FroBbel 
Established His First Kindergarten Here on 
the 28th of June, 1840." This date is chosen 
because it was a festival day in all that region, 
commemorating the four hundredth anniversary 
of the discovery of printing, which was cele- 



brated in common by the schools of Blanken- 
burg and Keilhau, Froebel being the orator of 
the day. As a matter of fact, however, he be- 
gan the kindergarten work soon after locating 
at Blankenburg. 

To Col. Von Arnswald we are indebted for 
a glimpse of the Blankenburg kindergarten as 
it appeared in 1839. "Arri^^ng at the place," 
he writes, "I found my Middendorf seated by 
the pump in the market-place, surrounded by 
a crowd of little children. Going near them I 
saw that he was engaged in mending the jacket 
of a boy. By his side sat a little girl busy 
with thread and needle upon another piece of 
clothing ; one boy had his feet in a bucket of 
water washing them carefully ; other girls and 
boys were standing around attentively looking 
upon the strange pictures of real life before 
them, and waiting for something to turn up to 
interest them personally. Our meeting was of 
the most cordial kind, but Middendorf did not 
interrupt the business in which he was engaged. 
'Come, children,' he cried, 'let us go into the 
garden 1' and with loud cries of joy the crowd 
of little men followed the splendid looking, tall 
man with willing feet, running all around him." 

' 'The garden was not a garden, however, but 
a barn with a small room and an entrance hall. 
In the entrance Middendorf welcomed the chil- 
dren and played with them an all-round game, 
ending in the flight of the little ones into the 
room where every one of them sat down in his 
place on the bench and took hold of his gift 
box. Then for half an hour they were all very 
busy with their blocks, and then the summons 
came, 'Come, children, let us spring and 
spring,' and when the game was finished they 
went away full of joy and life, every one pass- 
ing by his dear friend and teacher and gi^^ng 
him his little hand for a grateful goodbye." And 
then the colonel adds: "I shall never forget 
this image of the first kindergarten, so lovable 
and cheerful. I pi'eser\-ed it all in my memory 
and used it all as a pattern, when in time I 
had occasion to establish an educational gar- 
den in my own home." 

Nevertheless, Fra>bel and Middendorf had 
the greatest difficulty in persuading the Blank- 
enburg people to merely allow them to have any 




MONUMENT NEAR MARIENTHAL. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



285 



intercourse with the little children, because the 
parents thought that the teaching a child to 
play would help to make him a sluggard and a 
loafer. But the two earnest pioneers persisted 
in their labor of love and succeeded in over- 
coming the local prejudice to a certain extent. 
Froebel had begun the publication of a Sunday 
paper the year before which he called "Seeds, 
Buds and Fruits out of Life, for the Educa- 
tion of United Families." It bore the motto, 
"Come, let us live with our children." But he 
did not confine his work to Blankcnburg or the 
immediate neighborhood. In January, 1839, 
we find him giving a kindergarten address at 
Dresden, where the Queen of Saxony was pres- 
ent, and a month later he gave another at Leip- 
zig. Soon after lie was called to Dresden to 
further explain the system and Middendorf and 
Adolf Frankenberg went with him. The visit 
evidently lasted some time and resulted in the 
establishment of a kindergarten in that city, 
which was taught by Frau Frankenberg, who 
thus became the first woman kiudergaitner, so 
far as we can learn. 

While Froibel was at Dresden his wife died, 
May 13, 1839. She was one of those rare 
women who served an idea at the greatest pos- 
sible sacrifice, that of her life. Although 
mourning her loss sincerely he did not pause 
in his work, but soon after, at Hamburg, re- 
peated what he had said at Dresden. Month 
by month the idea of the kindergarten grew 
clearer in Froebel's mind, so that in 18-10, at the 
Guttenberg festival, which the schools of 
Blankenburg and Keilhau celebrated in com- 
mon, he was able to present a new and more 
comprehensive plan than any which he had pre- 
viously entertained, one which he hoped tocaiTy 
out with the help of his fellow countrymen. 
On the first day of May he issued an appeal to 
the public to help him to estabhsh a kinder- 
garten training school, the special feature of 
his scheme being the proposition that each 
person interested in the enterprise should take 
oue or more shares in it, each share ha\-ing the 
value of ten dollars. His address at the fes- 
tival of June 28th was largely devoted to ad- 
vocating the plan and was directed chiefl}^ to 
the ladies who were present on that occasion. 

Some idea of this speech can be gained by 
the closing words : "Therefore, I dare," said 
he, "confidently to invite you who are here pre- 
sent, honorable, noble and discreet matrons 



and maidens, and through you and with you all 
women, young and old of our fatherland, to 
assist in your subscription in the founding of an 
educational system for the nurture of little chil- 
dren, which shall be named Kindergarten, on 
account of its inner life and aim, and German 
Kindergarten on account of its spirit. Do not 
be alarmed at the apparent cost of the shares ; 
for if in your housekeeping or by your industry 
you can spare only five pennies dailj% from the 
presumptive time of the first payment until the 
end, the ten dollars is paid at the last pay- 
ment. Do not let yourself be kept from the 
actual claims of the plan by the comtemptible 
objection 'Of what use to us is it all ?' 

' ' Already the idea of furthering the proper 
education of the child through appropriate fos- 
tering of the instinct of activity, acts like light 
and wamith, imperceptibly and beneficently, 
on the well-being of families and citizens ; for 
good is not like a heavy stone which only acts 
and is perceived when it is pressed ; no, it is 
like water, air and light, which in^■isibly flows 
from oue place to another, awakening, water- 
ing, fertilizing, nourishing what is concealed 
from the searching eye of man — even slumbers 
in our own breasts, unsuspected by ourselves. 
Good is like a spark which shines far and points 
out the way. Therefore, let us all, each in his 
own way, advance what our hearts recognize 
as good, the care of j'oung children. 

"Do you ask for the profits of your invest- 
ment, the dividends on your shares ? Open j-our 
eyes impartially, your hearts also ; there is more 
in it than we have represented in the plan of the 
undertaking. Oh, is the beautiful any the less 
a gift and a real value in our life because it 
passes away easily ? Is the true auy the less 
a gift because it is unseen and only the spirit 
observes it ? And shall we count for nothing 
the reaction on the family and the happiness 
of the children in joy of heart and peace ot 
mind ? You can enjoy these great gifts in full 
measure ; for they are the fruit of your co-opera- 
tion, the fruits of the garden which you estab- 
lish and care for, the fruits of your property. 
Besides, is it not almost more than this to take 
the lead and stand as models for a whole coun- 
try, to advance the happiness of childhood and 
the well-being of families, of the whole nation ?" 
We are told that as a result of this speech Frce- 
bel's hearers were greatly moved and that 
they did not separate without pledging a goodly 



286 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



sum to advaucc the spread of the German 
Kindergarten. 

This success was only temporary, for while 
Frcebel and Middendorf were able to overcome 
in a measure the local prejudice against their 
system of education for 3'ouug children the 
parents kept insisting that they were doing the 
educators a great favor in allowing them to 
spend their time on the children, and were 
far from thinking that kindergartnors ought 
to lie paid for the services rendered. Fra-bel 
was able to get the municipality to grant him 
the free use of a place in which to do work. 
But it soon became evident to him that he must 
seek a broader field and take up the task of 
educating the public sentiment in favor of the 
new educational system. Consequently the 
institution at Blaukenburg was given up in 
1844 and Frfebel determined to travel about 
Germany and expound his views, taking with 
him his faithful and eloquent friend Midden- 
dorf. In order to kindle the sparks of appre- 
ciation glimmering here and there into a clear 



flame by the breath of his own never-failing 
enthusiasm, he proposed to visit all the large 
cities. But before setting out on this pil- 
grimage, in 1843, he published the "Mutter 
Unci Kose-Lieder," a book which was destined 
to become the most popular of all his works, 
the song and picture book for mothers and 
little children. "Traveling through the coun- 
try, "says Elizabeth Harrison, "Fro-bel listened 
to the cradle songs and stories which the Ger- 
man housewives told to their children. He 
noticed how the little children are constantly 
in motion, how they delight in movement, how 
they use their senses, how quickly they observe 
and how they invent and contrive. And he 
said to himself, 'I can convert the children's 
activities, energies, amusements, occupations, 
all that goes by the name of play, instrumental 
for my purpose, and transfer play into work. 
This work will be education in the true sense 
of the term. The conception I have gained 
from the children themselves ; they have taught 
me how I am to teach them.' " 



1844— 1849— WANDERINGS ABOUT GERMANY. 



In the summer of 1844 Froebel and Midden- 
dorf started out on their missionary tours for 
the propagation of the kindergarten, which were 
destined to continue a number of years and ex- 
tend over a considerable area. They visited 
in succession Frankfort, Heidleberg, Darm- 
stadt, Cologne, Carlsruhe, and .Stuttgart. Dur- 
ing the following year FrcEbel made the ac- 
quaintance of Louise Levin who subsequently 
became his second wife. The history of this 
woman is an interesting story to all w'ho are 
in any way attracted to the kindergarten or its 
literature. Louise Levin was born at Marien- 
vorstadt, a suburli of Osterode, in the Harz 
mountains, April 15, 181.5. Her father was a 
tanner and across the street from his house 
lived Christian P^rffibel, brother of Friedrich, 
a spinner and dyer of linen thread and the owner 
of a factory. His children were the first play- 
mates of little Louise, outside of her own 
household. 

In her later years Fran Froebel has written a 
pamphlet entitled "Reminiscences of Friedrich 
Fra?bel," which includes an outline of the story 
of her early life. She says that Christian Froe- 
bel was a busy man in those days, but that he 
found time for mental culture as well as an 



earnest and loving discharge of his duties as 
husband and father. Also that he had suf- 
fered from the want of a thorough education 
and that it was his great desire to procure 
more for his children in that respect than he 
himself had enjoyed. Friedrich always had 
great influence in his brother's family, and the 
narrative relates that his nephews and nieces, 
as well as the older brothers and sisters of 
Louise, looked forward to his \'isits as a treat. 
It was at the house of his brother, in 1816, 
when she was eighteen months old, that Frcebel 
first met her. He had recently resigned his 
position as assistant superintendent of the min- 
eralogical museum at Berlin, and resolved to 
open a school at Griesheim. But he wanted 
more pupils than this one family afforded and 
so visited his brother at Osterode, to persuade 
him to let his two sons join their cousins at 
Griesheim. A little later the school was moved 
to Keiliiau, and in 1820 Christian Froebel and 
his family went there to live. 

Concerning this change Frau Froebel writes : 
"I was five years old when our dear, faithful 
friends removed from our neighborhood . Well 
do I remember my brothers' and sisters' sorrow 
at departing ; my grief was more speedily as- 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



287 



sauged by a legacy of all the toys left iu tlie 
forsaken nm-sery over the way . " She soon be- 
gan to exchange letters with Elsie Frrebel, who 
was two years older, although at first her baby 
hand had to be guided by that of a more ma- 
ture sister. We are told that they sent Uowers 
to each other, exchanged garden seeds, and in 
similar ways kept alive the friendship of former 
years. In due time the boys of the Fra'bel 
family paid a %'isit to the Levins, and Louise 
was much attracted to them, as they appeared 
greatly to be preferred to her ordinary boy 
playmates. Then her brothers were allowed an 
outing at Keilhau, and on their return they 
were constantly talking about the happy life of 
the boys who were at school there, and of the 
kindness of "Uncle Fra?bel," meaning Fried- 
rich, to them. They also brought back with 
them many things which the pupils there had 
given them as samples of their own handiwork, 
models of toys, furniture and machines, cut out 
from wood or cardboard and pasted together. 

Louise LeAnn endured many hardships in her 
early days. Her father died when she was 
thirteen, her two brothers were left widowers 
with children to care for within a few years 
after they were married, and her eldest sister 
lost her husband in the prime of life. All of 
these families looked to her for help in the 
midst of their troubles, and it was not till she 
was thirt}' years old that she was at liberty 
to leave the home circle. As for her educa- 
tion, she tells us that it was "neither better 
nor worse than that of most girls at that time, 
the chief female accomplishment of that day 
being skill in various domestic arts." 

Finding herself no longer indispensable to 
her relatives Louise Levin felt that she must 
make herself indispensable to some one, to fill 
a In-each and have an object in life. Fran 
Middendorf had lately been A-isiting her and 
invited her to come to Keilhau. With the 
words of invitation ringing in her ears she 
wrote a letter offering her services to the com- 
munity and received an immediate answer urg- 
ing her to lose no time, but to at once become 
a working member of the household. This was 
in June, 1845, and when Louise joined the 
family it included three daughters of Christian 
Froebel, Fran Middendorf, Frau Barop and 
Fraulein Elsie Froebel, her former coiTcspond- 
ent. Frcebel himself was then living in the 
neighborhood, but did not make his home in the 



school building. But he called to see Louise 
soon after her arrival, and gave her much 
friendly counsel, which she remembered well 
and rendered useful in her relations and duties 
to those around her. 

In 1846 Fiwbel and Middendorf made a 
journey similar to the one undertaken the pre- 
vious year, but it was apparently barren of re- 
sults, just as the former trip had been. Dis- 
couraged with the reception he met with from 
men and prof essional teachers iu general, Frce- 
bel henceforth more than ever addressed him- 
self to women, mothers and teachers, with in- 
creasing enthusiasm. In the summer of 1847 
he gave an exhibition of games at a meeting 
at Quetz near Halle. As a result of this meet- 
ing one of his converts decided to add a kin- 
dergarten to her high school for girls at Ham- 
burg and toemploy Middendorf 's daughter Al- 
vine as the kindergartner. But before this 
plan could be carried out it was deemed best 
for her to take a course with Frosbel, and Louise 
Levin determined to join his training class at 
the same time. Consequently both of them be- 
came his pupils during the winter of 1847-1848. 

About this time Frabel drew up the pro- 
spectus of an institution which he proposed to 
form for the training of the masses and the 
educators of children. In this prospectus he 
says : "It is very desirable that young maidens 
entering the institution should have a good 
school education. They ought to be more than 
fifteen years old and healthy and full grown. 
The age from seventeen to twentj^ odd years 
seems best for this training. More important 
than school education, however, is the girlish 
love of childhood, an abihty to occupy herself 
with children, as well as a serene and joyful 
view of life in general. There ought also to be 
a love of play and occupation, a love and ca- 
pacity for singing. It goes without saying 
that purity of intentions and a lovely, womanly 
disposition are essential requisites. The fuller 
the educational accomplishments of a lady all 
the more rapid and satisfactory will be her 
progress in the science. 

"The means at the disposal of those willing 
to take the course are generally so limited as 
to compel a curtailment of the time of study to 
six months. Nothing but inexorable necessity 
could have enforced such a reduction of time, 
rendering next to impossible the acquisition of 
even such knowledge as is absolutely indis- 



288 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



pensable. Every part of the course must be 
shortened too much in order to render it pos- 
sible to reach the eud at all. The entire scheme 
is made up with a consciousness that the pupils 
themselves must fill tbe gaps in their develop- 
ment and by incessant industry and sponta- 
neous labor work out and perfect the ideas and 
principles mentioned in the course. There 
is no possibility of reaching the goal desired in 
so short a time unless a pupii will give her whole 
mind, and give it determinedly and persever- 
ingly, to study. 

"But this is not sufficient unless the pupilhas 
also learned to observe and study the phenom- 
ena of her own life and activity, and thereby 
learned to observe and guide the life and ac- 
ti\'ity of children. In this direction the study 
of the kindergarten ought to be continuous. 
A complete education for bringing up and edu- 
cating children ought to make the pupil theo- 
retically and practically conversant with all the 
requirements of the child concerning its bodily 
(dietetic) and mental (pedagogic) needs from 
the cradle to school age. But this is not enough. 
The normal school pupil ought also to be en- 
abled to impart a good preparation for the first 
grade of the elementary classes in the public 
schools. It is not possible, however, to in- 
clude this branch in a short course of only six 
months. A second course is necessary to give 
time enough for that kind of teaching. In 
either case, however, success cannot be com- 
pleted, unless the pupil on entering the normal 
school is sutiiciently jirepared as regards her 
school education, her maturity of character and 
good judgment. Such efficient preliminary 
preparation will alone enable the pupil to avail 
herself of all the suggestions offered during the 
course, and, after lea^^ng the school, to con- 
tinue the study, reflect and labor for the pur- 
pose of finishing her own education." 

The idea of Fra'bcl suggesting the possibility 
of taking the kindergarten course in six months 
will doubtless seem an absurdity to many kin- 
dergartners to-day. But their adverse judg- 
ment will be somewhat modified when we come 
to review the proposed daily schedule given in 
the prospectus of his training school, which 
laid out work for the whole day, from seven in the 
morning until bedtime. First came the morning 
service and a religious lesson which attempted 
to trace the evolution fif religions ideas in 
the chilli and thereby to indicate a method of 



awakening truly religious sentiments in the little 
ones. At nine o'clock the regular school day 
opened. The hour from nine to ten o'clock was 
spent in teaching "the science of the phenom- 
ena and laws of the evolution of the child ; of 
the essential nature of the child and the re- 
quirements of his nursing and his education." 
During the two hours from ten to twelve o'clock 
the principles which had been taught theoreti- 
cally the preceding hour were practically de- 
monstrated. These demonstrations were sup- 
posed to embrace practical exercises in personal 
intercourse, appropriate language in talking 
with the children, accompanying the singing 
with the appropriate practice of the senses and 
limbs." The specific relations between these 
exercises and the unfolding of the soul life of 
the child as an individual and as a member of 
the social whole were successfully pointed out. 
The Mutter Und Kose-Lieder served as a text- 
book in these lessons. 

The afternoon lesson began at two o'clock. 
Till four o'clock the gifts and occupations were 
handled. Seven small text-books were used, 
and it was Frrebel's intention to make clear at 
every point the manifold relations between the 
occupations and his gifts and the labors of man 
in contact with the circumstances of nature and 
events in life. The hour from six until seven 
was spent in practicing the occupations and 
games that had been taken up during the day 
with the children wh.o came to the school for 
that purpose. After supper the pupils gave 
further attention to any of the day's exercises 
which tlicy felt they had not mastered, being 
helped by Frwbel and his assistants. 

Such was the prospectus for the normal kin- 
dergarten, as laid out on paper in 1847. The 
criticisms which its announcement caused re- 
sulted in some modifications, but in many re- 
spects it was the scheme actually carried out 
a little later. During the six months of the 
course Fra'bel devoted his whole time and en- 
ergy to his pupils, from seven o'clock in the 
morning until bedtime, never wearying of ex- 
plaining, lecturing, laboring and playing with 
them. And what, the reader naturally asks, was 
the compensation required for all this trial? 
Half a thaler each week, that is, about thirty- 
seven cents for each pupil. 

During all these years Frcebel's schemes 
were many, one being to found an institution 
for the support and education of orphans, with 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



289 



a model kindergarten and a normal institute for 
children's nurses and kindergartners. Mean- 
while he kept up his travels, ^vith head-quarters 
at Keilhau. Wherever a festival could be ar- 
ranged in commemoration of Christmas or some 
other event, there was Frojliel to plan and lead 
the kindergarten games as a special attraction. 

We may not find it out of place right here 
to ask ourselves, How did Fra?bel look at this 
time in his life? The most definite description 
yet published occurs iu the "Story of My Life'" 
by Georg Fibers, the eminent novelist, as trans- 
lated by Mary J . Safford. Dr. Elmers was eleven 
years old when he entered the Keilhau school, 
in the spring of 1848, and he gives this pen 
picture of Frcebel : "When I came to Keilhau 
he was already sixty-sis years old, a man of 
lofty stature, with a face that seemed to be 
carved with a dull knife, out of brown wood. 
His long nose, strong chin, and large ears, be- 
hind which the long locks, parted in the middle, 
were smoothly brushed, would have ren- 
dered him positively ugly had not his 'Come let 
us live with our children' beamed so invitingly 
from his clear eyes. 

"People did not think whether he was hand- 
some or not ; his features bore the impress of his 
intellectural power so distinctly, that the first 
glance revealed the presence of a remarkable 
man. Yet I must confess — and his portrait 
agrees with my memory — that his face by no 
means suggested the idealist and man of feeling ; 
it seemed rather expressive of shrewdness, and 
to have been lined and worn by several con- 
flicts concerning the most diverse interests. 
But his voice and his glance were generally win- 
ning and his power over the heart of the child 
was Imiitless. A few words were sufficient to 
win the shyest boy whom he desired to attract ; 
and thus it happened that even when he had 
been with us only a few weeks he was never 
seen crossing the courtyard without having a 
group of the younger pupils hanging to his coat 
tails and clasping his hands and arms. Usually 
they were persuading him to tell stories and 
when he consented to do so the older pupils 
were sure to flock around him, and what fire, 
what animation the old man had retained !" 

This whole story is everywhere dotted with 
dark spots indicating privation on the part of 
Froebel. At one time he sold all of his house- 
hold furniture at public auction at Rudolstadt 
to help him in the cause to which he was so 



thoroughly devoted. "When he was in these 
difficulties," writes Frau Fro-bel, "he seemed to 
shrink within himself, he was so silent ; he no 
doubt felt the hardship of being without a 
settled home after all these years of toil." At 
Keilhau he lived iu the most modest style ; he 
endured physical discomfort with absolute in- 
difference, absorbed in one object. "New 
Year's eve" Frau Froebel continues, "was al- 
ways kept as a beautiful traditional festival at 
Keilhau. During the early part of the evening 
old and young joined in all kinds of games and 
home amusements and then a sinii)le praver was 
offered, with a retrospect of the j^ear, followed 
by a general shaking of hands and mutual good 
wishes for the New Year, as the bells rang out 
from the village church. At this moment, in 
the year 1848, Froebel appeared on the scene, 
and great was the joy of the assembled house- 
hold that he had kept his promise. A table 
covered with Christmas gifts was quickly ar- 
ranged for him in the blue room, and I remem- 
ber him chatting pleasantly about his recent 
wanderings ; telling those in Keilhau about the 
increased support his kindergarten cause was 
receiving in different places in Thuriugia. de- 
scribing new acquaintances he had made, until 
he at length withdrew in the early hours of the 
first morning of the New Year. Retiring to 
his own rooms he sat up imtil breakfast time 
inditing a letter 'To Womanhood,' as he after- 
wards told us." 

During the winter of 1848 Froebel went to 
Schalkau, in company with Louise Levin, who 
helped him iu the direction of the games. He 
lived at the schoolhouse and she was hospitably 
entertained by a neighbor. The afternoons 
were occupied with rehearsals and in the even- 
ing the schoolmasters of that section used to 
gather around Froebel to hear more about his 
educational views and talk over the arrange- 
ments for the festival which it was proposed 
to hold, some months later, but which was, how- 
ever, forbidden by the authorities. A similar 
^^sit was made to Brunn, where the two kinder- 
garten missionaries were guests of the ^^car. 

In the sununer of 1848 Middendorf published 
his book entitled "The Iviudergarten" and dedi- 
cated it to the German parliament, which had 
just assembled at Frankfort, hoping to secure 
their earnest attention to the system. Froebel 
helped him in correcting the proof sheets of 
this book and meanwhile busied himself in pre- 



290 



GOLDExN JUBILEE EDITION. 



pariug for a public gathering at Rudolstadt, 
issuing invitations to many sclioolmasters and 
otlier prominent people from all parts of Ger- 
many. Places of entertainment bad to be 
provided for those who came from a distance 
and tlie children of the neighborhood were prac- 
ticed iu the games and taught paper folding, 
paj^er cutting and the lath interlacing by Frau- 
lein Levin, at the little Eichfeld schoolhouse. 
Meantime Frcebel attended a meeting at Os- 
chatz, where a resolution was unanimously 
passed "That the governments of Saxony and 
Meiningeu be respectfully urged to )nake the 
support of kindergartens obligatory in every 
parish within their dominions, as the best pos- 
sible foundation upon which to rear any sys- 
tem of public instruction." 

The Eudolstadt meeting came in June and 
lasted three daj's. Several members of the 
national legislature were present, having been 
sent there to inquire into Fra-bel's methods, as 
well as representatives of reigning families in 
the Thuriugiau states. Many distinguished 
men took part in the debates, which waxed 
warm. There was a strong element of oppo- 
sition in the assembly and Frcebel and his 
friends were often challenged. But they were 
able to defend their position with energy and 
skill, and on the whole their cause was greatly 
benefited. In speaking of this meeting Hausch- 
manu saj's : ' 'Although some people might have 
retained intellectual doubts about some de- 
tails of his method, no one went away from 
that meeting without warmly sympathizing with 



his work as a whole. No one could wring from 
him the undoubted honor of having brought to 
light some neglected truths respecting child- 
nature and of giving fresh means for its de^ 
velopmeut." 

After the Rudolstadt meeting Froebel's cor- 
respondence increased greatly and expressions 
of sympathy flowed iu upon him from every 
quarter and greatly encouraged him in the be- 
lief that a better day was about to dawn. He 
spent the following winter at Dresden, giving 
a course of lectures for kindergartners and us- 
ing the kindergarten of Adolph Frankeuberg 
and his wife as practice ground. He also gave 
a second course to ladies and gentlemen inter- 
ested iu his system, being guaranteed an ade- 
quate salary for his work. Meanwhile Frau- 
lein Levin had accepted a position as governess 
in a family at Reudsburg and they met at 
Bergedorf during the Christmas holidays, 1848, 
where they and Alviue Middendorf happened 
to be visiting. 

About this time Frcebel became attracted to 
the ^^llage of Liebenstein as a promising loca- 
tion for a permanent training school and dur- 
ing the Easter vacation he went there from 
Dresden to look for a house. Liebenstein is a 
summer resort for strangers who come from 
all parts of the counti'y to drink the waters and 
he felt that it would be a good place from 
which to extend his cause. He returned there 
iu May, "with a A-iew,"sa}'s Frau Frcebel, "to 
obtaining a lease of the country house, 'Marien- 
thal' from the Duke of Meiuiugeu." 



1849— 1852— MARIENTHAL. 



Frcebel secured rooms in a Liebenstein farm- 
house through the kindness of Frau Muller, 
and he began to live there with his pupils and 
his grand-niece, Henrietta Breymann, (Frau 
Schrader) as housekeeper. She also helped 
teach some of the children who were beyond 
the kindergarten age. We come now to the 
period in Froebel's life when he ceased to fight 
his educational battles single-handed and in 
obscurity and was thereafter seconded in some 
measure liy the rich and the powerful. But 
for the aid of Baroness B. Von Marenholtz- 
Bulow and her friends it is doubtful if the 
name of Friedrich Frcebel would have come 
down to this generation as being of any im- 
portance. All of the reforms in this world are 



brought about bj' ^^sible means, and most of 
them have to make use of help from the in- 
fluential and the wealthy before lasting success 
is secured. How ccmld Columbus have carried 
out his d.arling scheme and thereby changed the 
world's history if Isabella had not pledged her 
jewels iu his favor? And how could Washing- 
ton, notwithstanding the valor and self sacri- 
fice of his countrymen, have brought the Amer- 
can Revolution to a triumphant issue in the way 
that he did if the standard of France had not 
been joined with the flag of our infant republic ? 
In this case it was not altogether because the 
Baroness secured for Frcebel and his training 
school a dc^lightfiil home at Marienthal for the 
rest of his life and fin-thered his plans in every 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



291 



possible way among the nobility and scientific 
men of the day, or even because she gave her 
life with rare devotion and lack of selfishness 
to advancing the kindergarten cause in differ- 
ent European nations that her alliance proved 
of such great imjiortance to him. There was 
another service which she did for Froibel, she 
became his interpreter. B}^ reading her "Remi- 
niscences" one gets a clear and minute account 
of the last three years of his life, which serves 
as a key to the whole. Her account covers 
what in many respects is the most interesting 
part of his career. 

It was at the end of May, 1849, that the 
Baroness reached the village, where she had 
sojourned during previous summers. After 
the usual salutations and her question as to 
what was happening in the place that season 
she was told by her landlady that a few weeks 
before a man had settled down on a small farm 
near the springs and danced and played with 
the children and for that reason was called 
"the old fool." Going out to walk some days 
later she met him and she described his ap- 
pearance on that occasion as follows : "A tall, 
spare man with long gray hair, was leading a 
group of children between the ages of three 
and eight, most of them barefooted and scantily 
clothed, who marched two and two up a hill, 
where having marshalled them for play, he 
practiced with them a song belonging to it. 
The loving patience and abandon with which 
he did this, the whole bearing of the man while 
the children played various games under his 
direction were so mo\ing that tears came into 
my companion's ej'es as well as my own." 

An acquaintance followed which soon ripened 
into friendship, and through the intercession of 
the Baroness, Fra-bel obtained a lease of the 
castle of Marienthal as a seminary for his nor- 
mal classes. How this arrangement came to be 
made the Baroness explains as follows : "On 
a walk which 1 once took with him, we came to 
the neighborhood of Liebenstein, charmingly 
elevated among the green fields. Fra?bel stood 
still and said : 'Look around j'ou, Frau Maren- 
holtz. This would be a beautiful place for our 
institution, and even the name would suit it so 
well, Marienthal, the vale of the Marys, whom 
we wish to bring up as the mothers of hu- 
manity, as the first Mary brought up the 
Saviour of the world.' I remarked that he 
mi^ht petition the duke to grant him the build- 



ing, which was standing unused, and that I 
would try to help him through the Duchess Ida. 
By means of the continued pi'omptings of her 
brother on the part of the duchess this end was 
reached at the end of some months. And I 
had the pleasure of surprising Fra'bel with the 
official permission after he had almost given up 
all hope." 

In the month of July Diesterweg, a dis- 
tinguished German educator, came to Lieben- 
stein and was introduced to Firebel by the 
Baroness. He became much interested in the 
principles which lie at the foundation of Frre- 
bel's system and with the Baroness devoted 
considerable time during the summer to study- 
ing them. It was also in July, that Fraulein 
Levin secured a release from her engagement 
at Reudsburg and came to Liebenstein, where 
for a short time she shared with Fraulein Brey- 
manu the duties of housekeeping and instruct- 
ing the pupils, but the latter soon went to her 
home, being in delicate health. When Louise 
Le\'in arrived, to use Froebel's words to the 
Baroness, "she gave to his institution the 
stamp of family life," which in his view was of 
the highest importance to an enterprise of that 
kind. During the month of September Mid- 
deiidorf came from Keilhan to visit his friend, 
and while he was at Liebenstein a sufficient 
sum was raised, chiefly from among the no- 
bility, to establish a local kindergarten. A 
little later he was in^'ited, through the influ- 
ence of the Baroness to deliver two lectures 
before the court at Weimar, which materially 
advanced the kindergarten cause. In October 
Frwbel went to Hamburg for the winter, and 
Fraulein Levin remained at Liebenstein to con- 
tinue training the pujjils and to receive new 
ones, also taking charge of the kindergarten 
as a practice field for the jjupils. 

"Frwbel passed a busy \\inter in Hamburg, 
by the invitation of the Women's Union, 
where society was much divided on the sub- 
ject of the 'higher education of women,'" says 
Frau Frrebel, "and where he undoubtedly 
overtaxed his strength. On the other hand, 
he felt strengthened and upheld Ijj' the sym- 
pathy nud interest his views met with during 
ins lectures. With many aspects of the wo- 
man question agitating the public mind at that 
tmie Frcebel had but little symiiathj', but he 
had the great satisfaction of seeing the first 
Bm-ger-kindergarten opened under his foster- 



292 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



ing care, as well as man}' private kindergar- 
tens." During the Christmas holidays he came 
back to Liebenstein and addressed the parents 
of tlie kindergarten children, also joining with 
tlie little ones in the customary celebration. 
AVliilo he was there the negotiations for the 
lease of ]\Iarienthal were completed and he 
Ix'gan the return -journey to Hamburg New 
Year's eve. Just as he was finishing his lec- 
tures there Louise Le^in moved the school 
from the farmhouse, where it had been quar- 
tered for a year, to Marienthal, and Frcebel 
himself went directly from Hamburg to Keil- 
liau, to talk with his friends there about his 
intended marriage with Louise Levin. This 
plan met with opposition because he could not 
give the required proof that he had sufHcient 
means to support a widow, in the event of his 
death. He also ^^sited Blankenburg and was 
l)resented with the title of honorary citizen, 
but when he asked that this might be trans- 
ferred to his future wife the people refused 
to grant the request. Frau Frrebel says that 
he accepted this rebuff with his customary pa- 
tience under trial and then went to Marienthal 
to resume his place in the school. 

He reached there with the first awakening 
touches of spring, and, to quote once more 
Frau Fra'bel,"We gaily decorated every door- 
way with an archway of green leaves to bid 
him welcome. I was painfully aware of the 
expression of weariness on his face. 'Oh ! I 
sliall quickly recover in this beautiful place' 
was his cheerful answer, 'city life with its ex- 
citements has worn me out, but in the rural 
seclusion of this place and the simplicity of 
life at home I am sure to get well agaiu.' " 

At this point, in order that we may get some 
idea of Slarieuthal and its surroundings, the 
reader will Ije interested in a description of that 
section as it appeared to an American kiuder- 
gartner two or three summers ago : "We fi- 
nally come out to the light again refreshed by 
our temporary absence from the outside world, 
and drive on to Liebenstein. Here we see the 
place that INIadam Von Bulow has made fa- 
mous ; here Franleiu Heevort shows us the 
diniug-room of the hotel where she once, as a 
child, met Fra'bel. The house and hotel bor- 
der tlie long narrow street, with the baths and 
springs at the upper end. We drink the spark- 
ling water, which is delicious, and think of 
this as another spot in the Thuringian Forest, 



where time might be pleasantly spent. We im- 
agine Fru?bel walking through this village with 
the children at his heels, and Madam Von Bu- 
low's account makes us wish we, too, could 
have followed them up to the lawn where they 
played their games. We refresh ourselves with 
some delicious German coffee, and drive to 
Marienthal. The path Fra'bel and his friend 
often walked lies across the fields beside us, 
and as we stop in front of the house we feel 
tlie reality of the hfe so devoted to an idea that 
the roots were firmly fixed in that lifetime. 
Through the courtesy of the owner of Marien- 
thal we see the house. Two stories and a roof 
of tiles, a middle dooi-way, and rows of win- 
dows face one. A square garden extends to 
the road from the house, and stretches to the 
right and around to the back. To the left is a 
courtyard, surrounded on three sides by barns 
and outhouses, the fourth side being open to 
the house. Many a primitive scene is being 
enacted here. All kinds of beasts and birds 
are -within the enclosure. Threshiug is going 
on, and the bright dress of the peasants at work 
enlivens the scene. We speak of Froebel's 
'Song of the Barnyard Gate,' and wonder if 
he got his inspiration here. We go inside and 
see the room where Frojbel's second marriage 
took place and the room where he passed out 
of the life where 'we behold but darkly,' into 
one of light." 

In the year 1850, Liebenstein was one of 
the most fashionable resorts of Central Ger- 
many and many noted visitors came to Marien- 
thal, Fradiel being the wonder and talk of the 
town. The Baroness gives this description of 
one such visit, when she piloted a party of 
.which Dr. Gustav, editor of "The Europa," 
was a member : — 

"We had now arrived at the gate of Marien- 
thal and heard the voices of the children sing- 
ing in the kindergarten, whom Frojbel himself 
led in the afternoon, in order to give to his 
pupils instruction in the manner of conducting 
the movement plays. He was in the midst of 
the troop of little ones when we entered. 'This 
then, is the house of the prophet,' said some 
one in our party, as we entered the great court- 
yard of the Marienthalhouse, which stood back, 
two stories high, looking more like the dwell- 
ing house of a farm than like a castle, but 
pleasant and homelike in the midst of the old 
green trees that surrounded it. In the large 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



293 



Bquare before the house door, to which stone 
steps led up, was a grass plot upon which was 
planted some shrubbery, and ou one side were 
very beautiful old lindens, which in flowering 
time spread their fragrance far and vdde. In 
their shade were some benches and tables on 
which in good summer weather Frtsbel was 
accustomed to give his morning lessons. 

"At the moment when we entered he stood 
in the midst of the courtyard surrounded by 
his pupils and a troop of little children, who 
had wound theniselves around him as their cen- 
tral point in the play 'Little thread, little 
thread, like a little wheel,' and were just be- 
ginning to unwind their skein again. AVitli 
glowing face and eyes beaming with happiness 
Frojbel greeted the company, immediately ask- 
ing whether they would like to see some of the 
movement plays before going up into the hall. 
The guests were quite willing. With truly 
childish delight he again conducted some of 
those ingenious plays, the first gymnastics of 
the childish limljs. These he copied from the 
traditional plays of children and the people, 
leaving out their rougher features in order to 
make them serve his educational idea ; partly 
to make children represent, somewhat dramati- 
cally, facts out of the life of nature and man." 

A long discussion relative to the principles 
involved in the play followed, and when it was 
ended and the children had sung their closing 
song they were led to the door by the young 
ladies who were playing with them. Frwbel 
then invited the company to follow him into 
the upper story of the house, where he lived. 
He crossed the great hall, situatedin the midst 
of the rooms, the four windows of which com- 
manded a view of delightful landscape extend- 
ing to the distant mountains of the Ebone. In 
the midst of the hall stood a long table cov- 
ered with Froebel's "gifts for play" and many 
specimens of children's work from various 
kindergartens. 

Early in August, 1850, a notable play festi- 
val was held at Marienthal, conducted bj' Frce- 
bel and Middendorf, in which three hundred 
children from all the surrounding villages par- 
ticipated, with their teachers. The multitude 
of spectators was ranged outside the square, 
in the shadow of the surrounding woods. A 
concluding address was given by Middendorf 
and the whole affair made a profound impres- 
sion on the community. In writing about it 



afterwards Froebel said : "Yes, it was a festi- 
val of the union of nature, man and God, and 
God's blessing rests on such a day, as the old 
peasant expressed it. How easily might such 
child and youth festivals be exalted to a uni- 
versal people's festival ! Should we not do 
everything to call such festivals into life, that 
so we may at last reach what the hearts of all 
desire, an all-sided 'unity of life?' " 

In this way the summer was spent. "Froe- 
bel loved to teach, "says his widow, "even whilst 
in the act of walking ; here he drew our atten- 
tion to the sti-atiflcation of the rocks, there to 
a tuft of moss, or to some other plant strug- 
gling for life upon a barren stone, steadily ex- 
panding by ■s-irtue of a principle of life within. 
His first lessons were generally given out of 
doors in the morning, as well as the first les- 
son in the afternoon during the summermonths. 
Toward evening groups of children put in an 
appearance in front of the house ; they came 
from the neighboring village of Schweina." 
The last daylight hours were passed in the 
games with these children and all of Froebel's 
time when he was not teaching was taken up 
with visitors. Consequently he overtaxed his 
strength with the work of the year and doubt- 
less shortened his days. But according to the 
Baroness he was well preserved, for she writes 
that no one who did not know the fact could 
believe that his age was sixty-eight. "The 
youth and freshness of intellect, which was so 
remarkable in him prevented one from think- 
ing of his actual age, whose infirmities had not 
yet appeared." 

The course of training ended in November 
and new pupils were immediately received. 
About this time Dr. Wichard Lange, who after- 
wards married Middendorf's daughter, came 
to Marienthal and a long discussion occurred 
between him and Fra'bel regarding the carry- 
ing on of the hitter's work in the future. Frffibel 
maintained that Dr. Lange was the best fitted 
person living, to take up his work when he 
should leave it and hand it down to coming 
generations. But Lange felt that no man could 
succeed Frcebel and that the chief apostles of 
the kindergarten must thereafter be women, 
and that he himself, while in hearty sympathy 
with Froebel and his system, must devote his 
faculties to teaching in the higher grades. 
This decision was a great disappointment to 
Froebel, although in all probability a wise one 



294 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



on the part of Lange, who subsequently did 
the ■world and the cause a valuable service by 
pubMshing a book on ' ' The Understanding 
of Friedrich Frrebel." 

The T^nnter which followed was a quiet one. 
On Christmas eve the pupils decorated Fro?- 
bel's study, making it look as though the whole 
forest had moved in. Each member of the 
family was assigned a separate table covered 
with gifts and "Frajbel's fatherly words seemed 
to endow these presents with a higher meaning 
for us all." Ou New Year's eve the family 
was invited to Liebenstein to enjoy private 
theatricals. 

Fraulein Levin remained at Marienthal for 
two years as Froebel's assistant, and they were 
married July 9th, 1851. The groom was then 
at the height of his popularity as an educator, 
and success a» a kindergarten teacher, being 
sixty-nine years old. The Baroness thus de- 
scrilies her meeting with him a few days before 
the wedding : "I found Frcebel at his writing 
table in his study. He greeted me with an ex- 
pression of the profouudest satisfaction. It 
was clear how truly happy and pleased he was 
made by the new-found home which had already 
formed a cultivated family circle of young, 
bright pupils, in quiet undisturbed domesticity. 
The battle of life lay behind him, he had parted 
from the world which did not understand him, 
and whose applause he had never sought. 
He now found himself in rural surroundings, 
which he had always desired, and he could 
give himself up, unmolested by opposition and 
obstacles, to the further development of his 
idea and the improvement of the practical mean- 
ing of it, and could sow the seeds of his doc- 
trine in the reeei)tive minds of his female pu- 
pils. He was assisted and well taken care of 
by her whom he had chosen to be the com- 
panion of his last days. After a life of labors 
and cares, trouble and combat, he could to all 
appearances, reckon on a beautiful, peaceful 
evening of life, which would allow him to look 
with increasing clearness upon the development 
of his cause and fill up the gaps still existing 
in it." 

The wedding was a gay affair, in spite of the 
advanced age of the groom. On the previous 
evening the pupils brought their presents, with 
all kinds of play, songs, original poems and 
allegorical representations. The rooms were 
adorned with flowers, and Frcebel himself led 



off in some of the kindergarten plays, all present 
taking part. The next clay the bride and groom 
stood at a flower-decked altar while Pastor 
Ruckert, a brother of the poet, united them, 
taking occasion to speak in deep recognition 
of Frrebel's blessed work. Micldendorf was 
groomsman and the Baroness bridesmaid. 
When the ceremony was over we are told that 
Frcebel met the congratulations of his friends 
with streaming eyes and was as gay and as 
happy as a child, joining in the dancing until 
late in the evening, as did Micldendorf, re- 
gardless of their advanced age. As the com- 
pany dispersed he said : "Now we will go to 
work with new power," and the next morn- 
ing he met his classes as usual. 

Fran Frcebel speaks of her feelings at this 
time as follows : "I was at rest and happy in 
my work for him and for the object he had in 
view. In childlike ^veneration I had first of all 
tried to approach him in thought ; and in his 
ineffable goodness of heart for the weak Frce- 
bel had drawn out my trust ; at length there was 
on both sides a desire to be legally linked by 
the closest tie. His age dicVnot trouble me at 
all ; in mine eyes he was the greatest and best of 
men, and I only marveled how he could con- 
descend to care for a woman so much beneath 
his level in every respect. IMy one anxiety 
was to make sure that the rather unusual step 
of marriage at his age would not do harm to 
his work in the world. The wedding clay was 
truly a high festival of the soul for me. We 
called together a few friends and in their 
presence and that of our pupils Pastor Ruckert 
asked a blessing on our union. His words 
seemed as though they had been spoken out of 
mine own heart. We did not keep a honey- 
moon, we were so happy every day of our lives 
that we did not ynsh for anything more." 

The number of pupils was large that sum- 
mer and a gala clay was observed, when the kin- 
dergarten children assembled from all the neigh- 
boring villages on the grounds of the castle 
Altenstein, where Fran Fnjebel gave special in- 
structiou to the children of the ducal family. 
But early in August a blow was dealt the kin- 
dergarten cause by the Prussian government 
which ultimately caused the death of its founder. 
This was an edict prohibiting all public kin- 
dergartens throughout the country, occasioned 
by the published utterances of Karl Fra'bel, 
nephew of Friedrich, which were regarded as 




TOMBSTONE AT SCHWEINA. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



295 



socialistic and even atheistic. Strenuous efforts 
were made by Frffibel and all his friends to con- 
vince the minister of state that a mistake had 
been made in confounding uncle and nephew. 
But these efforts were unavailing, although Frte- 
bel sent coj^ies to Berlin of every book and 
pamphlet he had ever written and the Baroness 
gave Frcebel's petition to the king personally. 
The government was obdurate and the edict 
was not revoked until 1<S()0. 

In September a teachers' convention was lield 
in the hall of the Liebenstein Baths, which was 
largely attended by the friends of Froebel. It 
began on the morning of the 27th, with Dies- 
terweg in the chair. After he had welcomed 
the company reports were given of the different 
kindergartens in the country, in which Froebel 
and Middeudorf joined. lu the afternoon 
Frtebel presented a statement regarding his 
work "with the most peculiar vividness and 
impressiveness and deepest con\ictiou of its 
value, which made a universal impression and 
called out great unanimity of opinion. This 
statement dealt chiefly with the practical part of 
the kindergarten system — the early use of the 
child's powers for manipulation and productive 
actixity." The next morning Counsellor Peter 
opened the convention as chairman and the 
statement was thoroughly discussed, the debate 
pertaining for the most part to the practical ap- 
plication of Frcebel's methods, without enter- 
ing into the fundamental idea of the scheme. 
In the afternoon the company witnessed the 
plays of the Liebenstein children with much 
enthusiasm and frequent applause, much to 
Frffibel's delight. The games were also played 
in the evening, under the lead of Fran Frtebel, 
many of the \'isitors participating. On the 
third morning the convention passed a ■•Dec- 
laration" of its \-iews concerning Frcebel's 
ideas which was favorable to^ the kindergarten. 

It was also proposed by this gathering that 
Fra'bel shouki write an essay on his system, 
publish "A Kindergarten Guide" for teachers, 
and also establish a new periodical to further 
the cause. All these things he promised to 
undertake, but he was not spared to do any of 
them. Many discussions followed on this the 
last day of the convention. The Baroness says 
that a warm and lively sympatliy prevailed and 
that every indi\'idual present was intent upon 
expressing recognition of Frcebel and making 
him forget the injustice of the government pro- 



hibition of kindergartens. But according to 
Frau Frcebel's Reminiscences he was much dis- 
appointed in the failure of the convention to en- 
ter into the real spirit of his plans and to adopt 
measures for their intelligent advancement. 
She puts it in this way : "Frcebel himself was 
much more inortified by the refusal of an in- 
vestigation of his work than by the prohibition 
on the part of tlie Prussian government." 

It was about this time that Fnebel exerted 
himself to have Middeudorf leave Keilhau and 
live at Marienthal, in the liope that they might 
work together for the rest of their days. But 
the Keilhau community could not spare him, 
much to Frcebel's regret. Late in the autumn 
the Baroness left Liebenstein for her winter 
home in Berlin, having first arranged to live 
during the next summer in tlie upper story of 
the kindergarten building, tliat slie might more 
closely study the kindergarten children. Re- 
garding her departure she writes: "The pic- 
ture of idyllic rural and domestic repose which 
Marienthal afforded at that time and the pro- 
tection and care in which I left Frwbel, in view 
of the watchfulness and fidelity of his wife, 
made the parting easy and free from any pre- 
sentiments that it would be for the last time." 
After she reached Berlin Frojbel sent her a short 
statement of his theories which was an expla- 
nation of symbolism and which is often referred 
to as "Frcebel's last words." She speaks of it 
as a "short and pregnant statement, in spite of 
its abstract subject, written with great clear- 
ness." She did not feel justified, however, in 
publishing it, and now that she is dead there 
is but little prospect of finding any trace of it. 

During the winter which followed, owing to 
the obstacles which stood between him and the 
carrying out of his plans, Fradtel seriously en- 
tertained the project of immigrating to this coun- 
try. His wife had a brother living in Philadel- 
phia and a scheme for establishing a kinder- 
garten training school in that city was sent to 
him. Years before Frcebel had entertained 
the same idea and even made some arrange- 
ments to immigrate with a friend who finally 
came here without him. It is doubtful, how- 
ever, if Frcebel could have made any substan- 
tial progress with his system if he had lived 
to set foot in the United States. Of course 
he might have found an interpreter here who 
would have advanced his cause, but his own 
efforts, it is safe to predict, would have been 



296 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



futile. There is uo evideuce that he ever paid 
any attention to the English language and hi.s 
personal appearance at that time of life would 
have told heavily against him in a foreign 
land. He would have been regarded as an 
ideal enthusiast, as an intense specimen of the 
"crank," with greater positiveness here than 
he was in Germany. It was better liy far that 
Froebel remained at home ; that the Baroness 
became his biographer and representative in 
Europe and that on Elizabeth Peabody was 
laid the burden and the glorj' of transplanting 
the kindergarten to America. 

During the winter which followed the Baron- 
ess received occasional letters from Fra-bel and 
his wife expressing great content with their 
surroundings. Occasionally mention was made 
of his lieing slightly ill and temporarily sus- 
pending work, but for the most part his usual 
duties were uninterrupted. In a letter to a 
friend in America, dated May 2, 1895, Frau 
Ifroebel writes as follows regarding that time in 
her life : — 

"Faithful labor for the true welfare of others 
is sure to add to our own welfare, to our peace 
of mind. 1 have experienced this in my pa- 
ternal home as well as by the side of my noble 
husband . With my mind's eye I see him clearly 
now as he used to put down his pen late in the 
evening, after a long day passed in teach- 
ing his disciples and conversing with visitors, 
and to turn to me with an expression of serenest 
joy in his countenance and to speak in a clear 
and restful voice words showing that he had 
written some educational thesis in order to re- 
cover his own self, his individual consciousness 
from within the maze of foreign impressions 
left behind by the experiences of the day. 
This wonderful power and love of work the 
Almiglity had bestowed on him that through it 
vast multitudes should be blessed. And now 
I hope and trust that there are a great many ac- 
tively engaged in singleness of purpose to con- 
tinue to erect the editice of which Fnebel laid 
the foundation, the editice of the natural edu- 
cation of man." 

The idea of observing the seventieth liirth- 
day of Fra'bel with a notable celebration origi- 
nated with Middendorf , who knew that Frffibel 
regarded his seventieth year as the most im- 
portant period of life, the time for the com- 
plete sui-vey of one's own as well as of human 
life in general. At sunrise, on the morning of 



April 21, 1852, Frcebel was awakened by the 
festal song of his pupils and he spake to them 
briefly in recognition of the day. The Baron- 
ess could not be present because of sickness, 
but Middendorf told her the full story of the 
day, and she descrilies it in detail. To her we 
are indebted for this i)icture : "As Frcebel 
stepped out of his chamber into the lecture- 
room he stood still on the threshold, taken by 
surprise, admiring, with his eyes beaming with 
joy, the beautiful decoration of the room, which 
was adorned with flowers in flower-pots, fes- 
toons and wreaths, and the table richly covered 
with presents of all kinds. Again the song 
burst out from the semicircle of scholars 
dressed in white holiday garments, ornamented 
with green wreaths, w'hich expressed the mean- 
ing of the ornamentation and pointed to the 
blessing which would go forth to the world of 
childhood out of Frabel's work. Then Madam 
FroL'bel handed out her birthday present and 
the scholars followed with an orange tree bear- 
ing flowers and fruit, which Fra3bel had often 
pointed out to them as a symbol of the united 
ages of man in leaves, buds, flowers and fruit 
borne at the same time, representing childhood, 
youth, manhood and old age." 

Among the presents was a picture of Pes- 
talozzi, an illustrated Bible and an engraving 
of Raphael's Madonna, together with tokens 
from the neighboring kindergarten children and 
those at Keilhau. In the afternoon the chil- 
dren came from Salzung and Liebenstein to 
sing him a song and play their games, while 
at sunset the postman brought a bag of letters 
"from the Lower Rhine to the Baltic" testify- 
ing to the powerful influence of Frffibel's teach- 
ings and the honor and esteem in which he was 
held. In the evening Pastor Ruckert and his 
family were visitors at Marieuthal and the pu- 
pils acted a dramatic farce, which was followed 
by kindergarten games. Then the company 
sang a song composed for the occasion and a 
green wreath was placed on Fra^bel's head by 
one of the pupils. Writing about this day 
Frau Fra?bel says: "He was in the best of 
spirits, but 1 noticed that his strength failed 
him occasionally. He was, nevertheless, the 
life and soul of our party and until late in the 
evening he was seen distributing trifles as gifts 
to friends." 

According to Middendorf Frcebel's life im- 
mediately after the celebration was happier 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



297 



and more tranquil than ever before, and he en- 
joyed his existence like a child. But very soon 
a new cause for disturbance arose because there 
appeared a number of letters in the daily pa- 
pers frojn the contending religious parties of 
the day with claims from each of them that he 
sympathized with its particular views. His 
own understanding of Christianity was far 
clearer than any opinions held by them and 
he could only regard their assertions concern- 
ing him as false. Therefore he undertook to 
formulate a statement of his religious views 
for publication and sent it to the Baroness at 
Berlin. But his bodily weakness and agitated 
mind prevented him from putting forth an ef- 
fort worthy of himself, and she wrote him that 
it would be better not to print the manuscript 
and he accordingly requested her to return it to 
him. 

Shortly after the bu-thday celebration, dur- 
ing Whitsuntide, there was a large gathering of 
teachers at Gotha and Frcebel was invited to 
be present. He and his wife left Marienthal 
very early in the morning, a cai'riage drive 
being necessary before taking the trip bv rail. 
When he entered the hall, in the midst of the 
exercises, the whole assembly rose to do him 
honor. At the end of the speech that was in 
progress when he came in the president gave 
him a hearty welcome, which was followed by 
three cheers from the whole company. Froe- 
bel thanked them in a few simple words and 
then took up the discussion of the subject in 
hand, "Instruction in the Natural Sciences," 
and was heard with profound attention. After 
the convention he was made especially happy 
in the garden of a friend who lived in Gotha, 
where he examined almost every group of 
flowers and gratefully acknowledged all the 
good things which were offered him. He also 
visited the local kindergarten and explained 
the intellectual significance of some of his oc- 
cupations and material. 

In the evening he took part in a reunion of 
the friends of his cause, speaking of the im- 
portance of the kindergarten for women and 
the duty of teachers to learn to understand it 
on its own theory, and prepare for its intro- 
duction into the schools. But the strain of 
this effort was too much for him and he urged 
his wife to leave at an early hour. "During 
our drive home," she writes, ."the weather being 
fine, he stopped the carriage at the crest of the 



hill and we got out and walked up the slope of 
the neighboring summit, 'der Glockli,' as we 
called it. There we had often spent happy 
hours together, but I noticed then the difficulty 
he had in walking and unutterable fears filled 
my mind. Arrived at the top of the hill, he 
said : 'I should somehow like my name to be 
placed here when I am gone.' Ou our return 
to Marienthal we found the whole house gar- 
landed with evergreens by the pupils. Visitors 
called and Frcebel again became animated by 
their presence, but his strength was ebbing 
fast." 

Up to this time there is no evidence that 
Froebel was ever seriously sick. For seventy 
years he had been a constant worker, devoting 
but little time to recreation save as he found 
it in his daily work with the children, and spar- 
ing himself no physical exertion or privation 
which seemed necessary for the advancement 
of the cause. Although never robust, he must 
have possessed a strong constitution, when we 
consider his record as a soldier and the long 
journeys he took on foot, even in the later years 
of life. His last illness began June 6, and ap- 
pears to have been caused by a general breaking 
down of the system, resulting doubtless more 
from long continued overwork and the deferred 
hope which "maketh the heart sick" than from 
an acute attack of disease. We are told that 
when this sickness began he thought he saw 
in it a crisis which would lead to recovery. 
From day to day he retained his repose and 
cheerfulness and was very grateful for what- 
ever was done for him, especiallj' when flowers 
were brought him. For the particulars of this 
last sickness and the funeral we are indebted 
to a pamphlet written by Middendorf and pub- 
lished at Liebenstein that same year. To those 
who stood by the bedside of the dying man it 
was evident that "the highest peace, the most 
cheerful resignation were expressed not only in 
his words but in his face. The former anxious 
care to be active in his life-task resolved itself 
into trust in Providence and his spirit looked 
joyfully in advance for the fulfillment of his 
life's idea." 

This is the testimony of the physician who 
attended Froebel, as related to the Baroness a 
few weeks later : "I have seen many men die, 
but never anyone who looked into the face of 
death so cheerfully and so calmly as Froebel. 
One day he asked me what I thought of his con- 



298 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



dition and whether he could live a little longer. 
I thought I ought to speak the real truth and was 
able to do so to him. I advised him not to 
postpone his last directions, since the failing 
of his powers left slight hope of recovery. He 
took my words with the greatest calmness and 
I did not notice the least change in his coun- 
tenance. When 1 went to him on the follow- 
ing noon they told me that he had added some 
directions to his will that morning. At the 
door of his chamber I heard a low singing, like 
the chirping of the birds which were singing out 
of doors, and when I entered 1 found Fradiel sit- 
ting up in the bed, which was pushed up to the 
open window, looking with glorified joy on the 
landscape before him and singing softlj- to him- 
self. To my remark, 'You appear to be better 
and more cheerful,' he replied, 'Why should I 
not ? I enjoy beautiful nature even in my last 
moments.' I never found him, on my visits, 
impatient, complaining or even discontented." 
On the Sunday before his death a favorite 
child brought him flowers and he received her 
with great delight. With difflculty he reached 
out his hand and drew her hand to his lips. 
In his last hours he asked for flowers and said, 
"Take care of my flowers and spare my weeds ; 
I have learned much from them." He wanted 
the windows open frequently and often re- 
peated the words, "Pure, vigorous nature." To 
Barop who had come from Keilhau to be with 
him, he said, "Remain true to God." And 
then he asked them to read the letter written by 
his godfather when he was baptized and which 
contained the confession of Christian faith. 
During the reading he often exclaimed, "My 
credentials ! My credentials, Barop !" He 
called it his letter of credit for heaven and re- 
peated again and again the words used in the 
letter, "The Saviour shall henceforth hold im- 
mediate communion with him in justice, grace 
and mercy." He said that he had labored to 
make Christianity a reality and he repeated 
many times with great emphasis that he was 
"A Christian man." 

■ At midnight, June 21, 1852, the final moment 
approached. He was in a sitting posture and 
his eyes were partially open. Middendorf says 
that his last words were, "God, Father, Son 
and Holy Ghost." His breathing continued to 
grow shorter and "at half-past six in the morn- 
ing he drew two long breaths and all was still." 
To those who were standing about him his de- 



parture seemed like the death of a beloved child. 

At the burial sen-ice the bier was adorned 
with flowers and a crown of laurel, made by 
his wife and pujiils, and stood in the spot lately 
occupied Ijy his bed. After all present had 
gathered about the body to look for the last 
time on that beloved countenance from which 
all trace of pain had been effaced the casket 
was carried through his study and then through 
the sitting-room and placed in the wide vesti- 
bule, to be strewn with wreaths and flowers by 
many children, all of whom, even the smallest, 
tried to show their gratitude for him once 
more. The mourning company included nu- 
merous friends from a distance, with not a 
a few whom he had helped. The teachers 
sang a funeral hj'uin and then the procession 
started for the churchj'ard at Schweiua. A 
heavy shower fell on the way and the people 
were compelled to stand under shelter for a 
long time, which led the clergyman to remark, 
"Even his last journey is through storm and 
tempest." As the funeral train moved on the 
bells of the village church began to toll and at 
the cemeterj' the teachers took the bier on their 
shoulders, to carry it to the grave. 

Although the rain still continued a large part 
of the community, young and old, had gath- 
ered to honor him. The hymn, "Jerusalem, 
thou lofty cit}'" was sung and then Pastor 
Ruckert began his remarks, just as the rain 
stopped. AVhen he had finished the teachers 
sang, "Rest softlj'" and the casket was low- 
ered into the grave, which had been lined with 
flowers. Then Middendorf made a short ad- 
dress, after which a song which he had written, 
beginning "Rise again, thou shalt rise again," 
was sung. As the pastor threw a handful of 
earth into the grave he said, "May God grant 
to each of us such an end as that of this just 
num." Then the scholars threw flowers upon 
flowers into the grave, one of them snatching 
the Itouquet from her l^reast to throw in, and 
Middendorf cast in the manuscript of his song. 

Concerning the surroundings of the grave, 
Middendorf wrote as follows : "The newlj' laid 
out churchyard, situated outside the village 
upon an eminence, has a singularly beautiful 
location. The town lies half-concealed iu ver- 
dure, at the foot of the tower which rises up 
alone, like a finger-post pointing to heaven ; 
the whole glorious country lies spread out be- 
fore the eye like a living picture. At the left 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



299 



Altenstein, with the summer dwellings of the 
ducal family stretches out its high hand with 
noble grace, showing by its act that it truly rev- 
erences the cross which is erected in memory of 
Bonifacius, the earliest promulgator of Christi- 
anity here. Directly in front stands the old 
castle of Liebenstein whose name has a good 
sound near and far for its healing springs ; and 
on the right,shaded with lofty poplars and sur- 
rounded by green meadows and waving fields of 
grain, ^ith the murmur of clear waters stream- 
ing from the rock of Altenstein, the quiet, love- 
ly Marieuthal, the seat of peace, of untiring 
work for the worthiness and tlie unity of life, 
consecrated by him who has now come to this 
spot for undisturbed peace and harmouy." 

Thus died Friedrich Froebel. But although 
more than forty summers have passed over his 
grave at Schweina we cannot admit that Fros- 



bel is dead, but must rather remember that he 
said iu the course of his last sickness, "I am 
not going away, I shall hover around in the 
midst of you." How true was this prophecj' ! 
Who of us would care to deny that his loving 
spirit is with us to-day and with the little chil- 
dren who gather about us in the kindergarten 
circle for the morning talk, or nestle in our 
arms at the home fireside when the shadows of 
the night rest upon us, and plead for "one more 
stor}'" before it is time to say the evening 
prayer? Has there ever been a time when he 
was more truly alive than at the present hour? 
The world is just beginning to reap the first 
fruits of his life and labors. The fame which 
belongs to him to-day is but a faint rushlight 
compared with the beacon which will shine out 
in the future when generations yet unborn shall 
rise up and call him blessed. 



1852— 1S95— SINCE FROEBEL'S DEATH. 



It seems fitting to close this sketch of the 
founder of the kindergarten with a brief review 
of what has been done to advance his ideas 
since the time of his death. The sickness of 
the Baroness and domestic matters kept her in 
Berlin later than usual in the summer of 1852, 
and the notice of the loss of her friend did not 
reach her in time for the funeral. She arrived 
at Liebenstein July 2, and the first question she 
asked on meeting Middendorf was, "What will 
now become of the cause ?" His answer was, 
"We will work with all om- powers ; truth is not 
lost." This watchword became their motto for 
the rest of their lives. The instruction of the 
training class continued at Marienthal through 
that summer, Middendorf gi^'i^g all his time to 
teaching the kindergarten theory and Frau Fro?- 
bel undertaking the work of teaching the occu- 
pations. Of her the Baroness wi-ites : "Al- 
though deeply afflicted by the sad, irreparable 
loss of her husband after only one year's married 
life, she fulfilled the task, now become so much 
more difficult, with the greatest conscientious- 
ness, firmly resolved to devote her whole strength 
to it in order to presei've and promote the work 
already begun. At the same time she remained 
an affectionate, motherly friend and guardian of 
the pupils." 

The season was a quiet one for the kinder- 
garten community and they mingled but little 



with the summer visitors. The class was con- 
tinued at Marienthal througii the autumn, but 
early iu 1853 Middendorf and Frau Frwbel re- 
moved their work to Keilhau. The former came 
by invitation to Liebenstein iu May to represent 
the kindergarten movement at the general con- 
vention of German teachers and the Baroness 
also gave a demonstration in connection with 
a similar gathering held at Gera. She went to 
Keilhau in July to see how the work was pro- 
gressing and gives a glowing account in the 
closing pages of the "Reminiscences" of the 
community as it appeared at that time, using 
these words: "But now oue saw, instead of 
Froebel's little farmhouse where he and his pu- 
pils had to struggle at first with the greatest 
privations, several stately buildings which in- 
closed a large court^'ard, surrounded by the 
steep mountains and beautiful woods of the 
rather narrow valley. There were beautiful, 
spacious apartments and schoolrooms, and a 
large hall iu the main building. Exemplary 
order and care for the bodilj' and mental needs 
of the pupils were evident. The watchful guid- 
ance, the sharj) practical oversight and the 
somewhat strict discipline, but at the same time 
loving care of the director, Barop, were every- 
where apparent." 

The Baroness spent some weeks in the neigh- 
borhood and occasionally took Middendorf's 



300 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



place as instructor in the training class, be- 
cause he showed increasing signs of failing 
health. She returned to Berlin in the autumn 
and soon received news of his death, which 
occurred from brain troubles, November 26, 
1853, without previous sickness, at the age of 
sixty. The loss of Middeudorf compelled Frau 
Friebel to leave Keilhau and she accepted an 
in^^tation to take charge of a training class in 
a Dresden school. This arrangement was but 
temporarj', and in 1854 she went to Hamburg 
to accept the directorship of the free public kin- 
dergarten, and for many years was at the head 
of a training class which has furnished Ger- 
many and other countries with kindergartners. 

In "Frcebel Letters" we have this pen pic- 
ture of Frau Frcebel, as she appeared while 
visiting a German kindergarten in 1871 : 'T 
was charmed with her striking appearance. 
Her figure was tall, erect, and remarkably well- 
proportioned. Her carriage and movements 
were elastic and graceful. Her face had an 
expression of freshness, I would have said of 
youthfulness, but for the grayish tint of the 
hair, indicating her advanced age, and forming 
a striking frame for a countenance beaming 
with a charming ^^vacity, producing a con^^c- 
tiou that her soul hadperserved a youthfulness 
much greater than her gray hair seemed to in- 
dicate for her body. Her beautiful blue eyes 
bespoke an unusual development of lo\'ing kind- 
ness. At her request the games and occupa- 
tions and the musical exercises were gone 
through with in the usual way. She went to 
and fro, observing everything and every now 
and then actively interfering or directing with 
the hand and word of a thorough master. She 
was greatly pleased with the questions and re- 
marks, and her winning ways proved as power- 
ful an attraction for the little folks as for the 
grown up people." 

In writing about Frau Fra'bel at a later 
period one of her pupils says : "It was indeed 
a pleasure to see her walking through her kin- 
dergarten department in the morning. This 
stately, erect figure, this noble bearing, this 
kind smile on her lips, all these qualities com- 
bined inspired us wlio were her students with 
the greatest respect and devotion for her. 
She reproached and blamed us very little ; in 
fact, she was very silent and thoughtful, but she 
observed everything, and the expression of her 
face was enough to both teach and direct us. 



"I remember that one morning I had a little 
talk -nath her about her kindergarten, and when 
I told her how charmed I was to see her still 
in her old age so loving and child-like, her own 
words to me were : 'I am old, but my heart will 
ever remain young.' She was particularly fond 
of teaching us the 'Mother and Cossett Songs,' 
iu her training class, and liked to mention many 
happy hours which she had spent with Frcebel. 

"When she resigned from her work no other 
town but Hamburg offered her a home to rest, 
and she has always been loyal to that city. In 
summer it has been her habit to travel to those 
places iu Thuriugeu, where she spent so many 
delightful months in eager work with Frcebel 
for the welfare of the young." 

In the later years of her life Frau Froebel 
enjoys a serene old age, receiving an allowance 
large enough to satisfy all her legitimate de- 
sires, with something left to give to the numer- 
ous charities and needy kindergarten institutes 
with which her active life of benevolence has 
brought her in contact. In writing about her 
in September, 1895, A. H. Heinmann, editor 
of "Froebel Letters" says : — 

"I could select hundreds from the pile of 
letters written liy Frau Froebel to her friend at 
Chicago, all of which prove that her mind is as 
sound and clear as it ever was. At her age, 
eighty j'ears and five months, her strength is 
failing, which is perfectly natural. Her letters 
prove that she is still the same clear-headed 
and public spirited disciple of Friedrich Froe- 
bel that she was when her husband died forty- 
three years ago." 

The Baroness lived to be nearly eighty and 
died at Dresden, January 9, 1893. She was 
born at Brunswick. March 15, 1816, her father 
being president of the ducal chamber in the 
duchy of Brunswick and her mother the Count- 
ess von Wartenslehen, of the Mark of Bran- 
denburg. She was married while yet in her 
teens to Baron Von Marenholtz, a member of 
the privy council and later court marshal of 
Hanover. She had one son and during the 
twenty years of his life she devoted herself to 
his education and the care of the children of her 
husband by a former marriage. Possessed of 
excellent advantages in her youth, she was al- 
waj's a student of the best methods of educa- 
tion, and at the time of her first meeting with 
Fra?bel her mind was well prepared for the re- 
ception and adoption of the kindergarten gos- 




MONUMENT AT BLANKENBURG. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



301 



pel. As we have already seen, she began at 
once to proclaim that gospel from the public 
platform and by using her pen while Frtt>bel 
yet lived. In 1854 she went to England and 
spent six months lecturing. She has left a 
record that there was then one kindergarten 
in that country, at Hampsted. How it came 
to be there and what was its fate are puzzles to 
all the modern investigators of English kin- 
dergarten history. During her sojourn the 
Baroness published a pamphlet in English on 
"Infant Gardens." From England she went 
to Paris, in 1855, and opened a vigorous cam- 
paign, diligently attempting to convert August 
Comte, among others. As a result of this 
visit we find A. Guyard, a noted French au- 
thor, writing her from Paris, a year or two 
later, as follows : — • 

"The more I listen to you in regard to 
Froebel's method, the more my interest in- 
creases, and the deeper grows my conviction 
that by this means a basis is laid for a new 
way to educate humanity. He is great, per- 
haps tlie greatest philosopher of our time, and 
has found in you what all philosophers need, 
a woman who understands him, who clothes 
him in flesh and blood and makes him alive." 

In 1857-8 the Baroness transferred her mis- 
sionary work to Belgium, where Madam Guil- 
laume's kindergarten was already flourishing, 
and persuaded the authorities to let her in- 
troduce Froebel's occupations in the primary 
schools. In 1859 she journeyed to Holland, 
"enlisting new disciples and encouraging those 
who had already embraced the new ideas, 
such as Madam Calcar." She pronounced the 
Holland kindergartens the best that she had 
seen, which was doubtless due to the influence 
of Madam Calcar. In 1860 she pushed for- 
ward iuto Switzerland, lecturing at Geneva, 
Neufchatel and Lausanne. The following 
year, the prohibition of Prussia kindergartens 
beiug removed largely through her personal 
efforts, she began giving courses of lectures at 
Berlin, remaining in this work for nine years. 
In 1870 she gave it up to Fran Schrader, and 
moved to Dresden as a new field for similar 
labors. In 1871 and 1872 she made a tour 
through the principal cities of Italy, with very 
encouraging results. In 1874 she returned to 
Dresden to spend the rest of her days, being 
to the last devoted to the cause she loved so 
well. At the Centenary of Frasbel's birth. 



1882, she received a beautiful album, the 
joint gift of all the Italian kindergartens. 
Already her health had begun to fail and the 
latter years of her life were passed in blind- 
ness, so that she could not teach, but she some- 
times wrote for the public, through the kindly 
aid of her neice, who tenderly ministered to 
all her wants. 

Notwithstanding her work in foreign lands, 
the service which the Baroness rendered the 
world was mostly performed in her native Ger- 
many. In 1861 she was instrumental in start- 
ing a journal called "The Education of the Fu- 
ture," edited by Dr. Carl Schmidt, in which 
she published the essays on "The Child and 
Child Nature" which have since been revised 
and issued in book form. The translation 
of her "Reminiscences of Friedrich Froebel" 
by Mrs. Horace Mann first appeared in this 
country in 1877. An American kindergartner 
who visited the Baroness in 1869 says that on 
a certain occasion when the representative 
educators of several nationalities were dining 
together, she conversed with each and all of 
them with equal ease and freedom in their 
own languages. The account adds : "Her 
manners were unaffected, simple yet gracious, 
and her thoughtful attention toward her guests 
won their personal admiration, while her ani- 
mation and earnestness aroused the interest of 
all. Wherever the world will hear of Fried- 
rich Froebel's discovery of the kindergarten 
philosophy, the name of Bertha Von Maren- 
holtz-Bulow will arouse an equal amount of 
love and reverence in the hearts of those who 
love humanity and to whom the well-being of 
childhood is dear. Her quick intuitive inter- 
pretation of the hidden meaning of his words 
made her work and instructions of tlie great- 
est value to the world." 

Another American kindergartner w-ho visited 
the Baroness ten years later, in 1879, writes : 
"The value of her work for the kindergarten 
can never be estimated ; her heart and her house 
were alw'ays open to those who were in search 
for more knowledge in regard to Frffibel and 
the kindergarten. Intellectually she seemed 
to grasp the length and breadth of his science 
of development, and she was devoted to the 
idea that to her was the highest. She cher- 
ished many things that Froebel had made with 
his knife while developing his gifts. The 
tablets of the Seventh Gift were his latest work 



302 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



and much experimented upon ; and these ex- 
perimented tablets she Icept and showed with 
deep interest. We can hardly realize how we 
could have liad the kindergarten as at pres- 
ent, without the very help which the Baron- 
ess Marenholtz-Bulow gave, and the value of 
her work will be more appreciated as the 
years go on." 

The one connecting link between the present 
and the past, so far as active service in the 
German kindergarten field is concerned, is 
Frau Henrietta Schrader, who is still at the 
head of the Pestalozzi-Froibel house in Berlin. 
Her maiden name was Henrietta Breymann 
and she is a daughter of the pastor at Wat- 
zum and a grand neice of Frojbel, the sister 
of her maternal grandfather being Frajbel's 
mother. In 1848 she spent the summer at 
Keilhau, with her younger sister, who had 
been admitted to the school in company with 
several other young girls. During the fol- 
lowing winter she studied with Frcebel at 
Dresden and afterwards kept house for him 
and helped teach the .children while he lived in 
the farmhouse at Liebenstein. At the end of 
the summer she returned home and became a 
teacher in her native \'illage. Subsequently 
she came back to Liebenstein and was a mem- 
ber of the last training class that Fra-bel ever 
taught. For a number of years she main- 
tained a kindergarten in connection with her 
school at Watzum, and in 1863-4 she went to 
Geneva, where the Baroness had aroused 
much enthusiasm for the work, and established 
with the help of friends, the well-kuown Jar- 
din d' En fan Is in the Chantpoulet quarter. 
Subsequently she returned to Watzum, leav- 
ing the kindergarten there in charge of the 
Baroness Adele von Portugall. 

Some 3'ears later Fraulein Breymann married 
and went to Berlin. ' 'Posser-sed now of ample 
leisure," we are told, "Madam Schraderthrew 
herself into the work with all of her remarkable 
energy and that knowledge which amounts to 
positive genius." She had been identified 
with the cause in Berlin for more than a gen- 
eration. She married a railroad magnate, a 
man of high social and educational standing, 
and they are still leaders in society, in spite 
of their advanced age. Frau Schrader has in 
her possession many manuscript papers of 
Frcebel, which have never j'et lieen pubhshed, 
a part of them having been given her by 



Frau Frcebel. Some of them are illustrated 
with pencil sketches. She speaks and writes 
English with ease. 

Regarding the German kindergartens of the 
present day about all that needs to be said 
here is that they are found in all the large 
cities, with occasionally one in the smaller 
places. On this point Hermann Poesche, the 
compiler of Frwbel's Letters, published in 
1887, writes : "The Kindergarten Factory, as 
Fra-liel established it in Blankenburg, after 
his creative spirit, is now at work, at least in 
a merely imitative fashion, in almost every 
large town in Germany ; and what Frojbel's 
assistants had with great pains to produce 
with the labor of their hands is now made 
easily and in large quantities by machinery 
and then sold in the ordinary mercantile way." 

The reader who desires a detailed list of 
German kindergartens and training classes is 
referred to the book from which this quo- 
tation is taken. The English translation is 
published by Swan, Sonneschein & Co., Lon- 
don. 

The leaders in the German kindergarten 
work say that they are still hampered by the 
government regulations and for that reason 
the hope for the best development of the kin- 
dergarten rests with this country, just as it 
did in Frocbel's mind. An American training 
teacher sums up the differences between the 
two countries as follows, in a recently pub- 
lished article : — 

"And now I anticipate the question gener- 
ally asked, how does the woik in Germany 
compare with the American work ? It seems 
to me the two can hardly be compared, be- 
cause of the difference in environments and 
aim. In the work with the children we have 
much to learn from each other. If we could 
give them a little of the sunshine which ema- 
nates from light walls with their pictures, from 
the snowy white apron, which is so prominent 
a feature in the American kindergarten, if we 
could enclose them with the lightness of our 
singing, the grace and alertness of our motions, 
the real play-spirit of our games, if we could 
give them some of the sentiment, (of which 
we could spare a goodly amount) , and have 
breathed upon us in return their whole-souled 
interest, their practical common sense, their 
devotion in meeting all the needs of the child, 
we should both come nearer the ideal. 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



303 



"There is still less ground for comparison 
■when we consider the training classes. Our 
requirements for admission to the training 
class are much greater than theh's, our stan- 
dard higher. Many of the girls received there, 
without detriment to the class as a whole, 
would be a most dangerous element in an 
American training class, because of that sense 
of 'free and equal' in our atmosphere which 
would lead them to expect positions for which 
they were unfitted. 

"Here special classes with special aims are 
needed and I hope the day is not far distant 
when our college and kindergarten settlements 
may open their doors to these girls of fifteen 
or sixteen years whose advantages have been 
few, and give them a speci.il training which 
shall fit them to go out as children's nurses, 
in place of the ignorant women so generally 
employed to-day, who are not only ignorant 
of every law of child nature, of any need be- 
yond those of food and clothing, but also of 
the English language." 

Considerable has been done by his feUow 
countrymen to honor the memory of Froebel. 
In the hundredth anniversary of his birth, April 
21, 1882, the monument which stands over tlie 
grave at Schweina was dedicated. It is a 
modification of the design originally suggested 
by Middendorf, of the cube, cylinder and 
sphere, with ornamental additions and a me- 
dalion of Fra'bel. On it is inscribed the motto 
"Come, let us live with our children," with the 
dates of the birth and death and the state- 
ment that this monument has been erected as 
an expression of thankfulness for the great 
friend of childhood and mankind. It is sur- 
rounded by an iron fence, and mounted on a 
substantial stone base. There is also another 
monument in the grove near Marienthal, which 
follows Middendorf's design more strictly and 
bears the same motto and dates, and a third 
one at Blankeuburg, placed there by contribu- 
tors from different parts of the world. 

Aside from the institute at Keilhau, pre- 
sided over by the younger Barop, the most 
elaborate memorial of Froebel's life and work 
is the tower located on the hill at Oben\eis- 
bach, overlooking the birthhouse, on the spot 
where it is said he was wont to linger to 
watch the setting of the sun. It is of lime- 
stone, about one hundred and twenty feet 
high, and was built in 1889 by the Thuringia 



Verein, at a cost of thirty thousand marks or 
about seven thousand dollars. And yet trav- 
elers who have gone over that whole section 
on foot tell us that there are not a few people 
living within ten miles of that village who 
have never heard of Friedrich Frffibel. 

The prescribed limits of this book will not 
allow us to devote much space to recounting 
the progress of the kindergarten in European 
countries outside of Germany. The visit of 
the Baroness to England in 1854 has already 
been mentioned and we are told that about 
the same time Madam Ronge also came from 
Germany and established a kindergarten of 
her own in Fitzroy Square. She took her 
training with Frcebel and Middendorf at Ham- 
burg in 1849. After a little time she gave up 
her kindergarten to Miss Praetorius, who had 
lately come to Loudon from Germany, trans- 
ferring her own work to Manchester, which 
subsequently resulted in the formation of the 
Manchester Kindergarten Association. The 
year 1861 showed a marked advance in the 
kindergarten movement throughout England. 
Frauleiu Eleonore Heei-wart came to Man- 
chester to take charge of the kindergarten con- 
nected with Miss Barton's school, which had 
been established through the influence of 
Madam Ronge. She was trained by Midden- 
dorf and had been teaching in various Ger- 
man kindergartens for several years. Re- 
maining at Manchester till 1804, she then 
went to Belfast, and two years later founded 
a kindergarten and training school of her own 
at Dublin. Having made that city her home 
till 1874, she decided to go back to Germany, 
but when she reached London she was per- 
suaded by the British and Foreign School So- 
ciety to take charge of their new Kindergarten 
Training College at Stockwell, a position which 
she filled till 1883, sending out meanwhile 
many graduates who have become successful 
kindergartners. Fraulein Heerwart decided 
to go to Blankenburg the year after the Frce- 
bel Centenary festivals to take part in found- 
ing the Memorial Kindergarten, and since then 
has resided in the mother country. Her \iu 
terost in the English work is by no means 
abated and she spends two summer months of 
each j'ear in England as principal examiner of 
the Frffibel Society, to test the kindergarten 
work of tlie Infant School Teachers who are 
appointed by the London School Board. 



304 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



The baroness Adele de Portugall also came 
to England in 1861 and worked two j^ears at 
Manchester, before entering the long kinder- 
garten campaign on the continent which has 
done so much for the new education. It was 
in 1874 that Madam Emilie Michaelis, a pupil 
and friend of the Baroness, went to England, 
after some years of work iu Switzerland and 
Italy. She and her fellow-workers founded 
the Froebel society of London in November, 
and it was also in 1874 that the London 
School Board appointed the first lecturer to 
the Teachers of Infant Schools. In .January, 
1875, Madam Michaelis became principal of 
the famous Croydon kindergarten. In 1879 
the Frcebel Society established a Kindergarten 
Training College on Fitzroy Square, which was 
transferred to the Maria Grey Training Col- 
lege for Teachers in 1883. The Croydon 
Kindergarten and Preparatory School Com- 
pany was founded in 1880, and other similar 
organizations have since been formed for pro- 
moting kindergartens and training schools. In 
1884 a very successful exposition of kinder- 
garten methods and work was carried on in 
London, in connection with the International 
Exhibition, under the auspices of the British 
and Foreign School Society, which had just 
opened a Training College for Infant School 
Teachers. In 1888 the National Fruebel LTnion 
was formed, its main object being to maintain 
throughout England the high standard of kin- 
dergarten training which had for a long time 
been demanded by the London Society. This 
organization has a joint board of examiners, 
chosen from the different societies composing 
it, who hold examinations in several English 
cities and grant "elementary" and "higher" 
certificates to the successful candidates. 

In these latter days the cause has advanced 
considerably in England, and there are some 
kindergartens supported at the public ex- 
pense. At a meeting held in London .June 5, 
1895, Mr. H. C. Bowen, author of a book 
entitled "Froebel and Education Through Self- 
activity," made an address in which he said 
that the people who are interested in the kin- 
dergarten have been working many years to 
get Frffibelian methods rightly understood, 
and, if possible, adapted in England. He 
closed his remarks as follows : — 

"We are to have a Training College, which 
we hope will be of value not only to those who 



mean to be professional teachers, but also to 
those who need to know more about children 
than they do — I mean iKirents — to whom the 
Institute will be useful both directly and in- 
directly. We hope that it will give an oppor- 
tunity to those who have the charge of little 
children to learn how to develop and train their 
powers. There is nothing so pathetic, I think, 
as a young mother, who because she loved her 
child dearly thinks that this love alone will 
suffice as a guide to action. Something more 
is wanted, some knowledge, some little expe- 
rience ; and that, we hope, may be gained in 
our Training College. Those who go there 
will not necessarily be those who intend to be- 
come teachers, but those who have to do with 
children in any way whatever. In fact, we 
desire to help the public as a whole ; and we 
think one of the best wa^'s of doing so is to 
showthem how bestto deal with little children." 

A conference of the Froebel Society of Great 
Britain and Ireland was held at the College 
of Preceptors, Bloomsbury Square, London, 
September 12, 1895, when Madam Michaelis 
read a paper on "The Kindergarten Occupa- 
tions in Their Relation to Manual Work." 
She is principal of the new Frrebel Educa- 
tional Institute at West Kensington and has 
done the world a valuable service by trans- 
lating, in company with H. Keatley Moore, 
both the "Autobiography" and "Letters" of 
Frrebel, and adding to the original text many 
valuable notes. In one of these notes, writ- 
ten some j'ears ago, she says : After careful 
consideration we believe that the total number 
of fairly qualified trainers of kindergarten 
mistresses iu England may be taken at about 
fifty and the number of well-taught kinder- 
gartners at about two hundred. But as to the 
total number of institutions adopting the kin- 
dergarten name in our country, it is simply 
"legion." Every school has its kindergarten 
class, good, bad or indifferent. The English 
kindergarten periodical, a monthly magazine, 
iscalled "Hand and Eye," being edited by G. 
Brocklehurst, and is published in London by 
O. Newman & Co. 

Passing beyond Germany and England we 
find the kindergarten iu almost everj nation. 
Speaking of the spread of the kindergarten 
movement throughout the world, a writer in 
the "Pratt Institute Monthly" for November, 
1895, says : — 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



30o 



"If Froebel were to come back to us to-day 
he would be astonished to see the growth of 
the idea that found birth in the little cottage 
at Blankenburg in the Thuriugian Forest in 
Germany. That little spark of divine fire has 
spread over all the world, and to-day the word 
kindergarten is familiar in almost every coun- 
try in the world. When not recognized by 
the government of a country, kindergartens 
have often been introduced through Christian 
missions. Missionaries find the kindergarten 
most helpful in reaching the children and 
through them the homes of those whom they 
wish to benefit. lu a letter from China we are 
told that Fra'bel's method must be valuable, as 
it is so entirely the opposite of the artificial 
methods of the Chinese. In Japan, in India, 
in the Sandwich Islands, in Austria, in 
Turkey, in Eussia, France, Switzerland, 
Norway and Sweden, has the kindergarten 
found a home. In Italy, England and Bel- 
gium it is recognized by the government, 
and in the latter country is a part of the 
school system." 

Coming now to the rise and progress of the 
kindergarten in America we must confine our- 
selves to narrow limits, although there is much 
that it would be a pleasant task to write. "If 
without the Baroness Marenholtz-Bulow, Froe- 
bel lacked a clear interpreter in Europe, cer- 
tainly without Miss Peabody and her sister, 
Mrs. Horace Mann, the kindergarten cause in 
America would not stand where it does to-day." 
This is the verdict of one of the leading kin- 
dergartners in this country who is thoroughly 
conversant with Miss Peabody's work. Eliza- 
beth Palmer Peabody was born at Billerica, 
Mass., May 16, 1804. Her sister Sophia 
married Nathaniel Hawthorne and her sister 
Mary became the wife of Horace Mann. Miss 
Peabody was a teacher, a lecturer, and an 
author, devoting her life to educational and 
philanthropic matters. Her attention was 
first directed to the kindergarten in 18.59, be- 
cause of the peculiar brightness of a little boy 
of her acquaintance, the sou of Carl Schurz, 
whose family were then living at Roxbury, 
Mass., and who, she was told, had been taught 
in a German kindergarten. Miss Peabody 
began at once to study the writings of Froe- 
bel and in 1860 she opened a kindergarten at 
No. 15 Pinckney street, Boston, in company 
with Miss Margaret D. Corlees. 



This experiment was carried on for several 
years, but was finally given up by Miss Pea- 
bodj', for reasons which were afterwards ex- 
plained bj' herself as follows : — 

"Ifeltthatmy kindergarten was not the right 
thing, for, although very popular, I found that 
it failed to produce the results promised by 
Frrebel, which I had seen exemplified in the 
httle Schurz child, and so, after a time I gave 
it up to my partner, telling her to go on with 
it till I could go over to Europe and find out 
•about it. This I did in 1867, taking eleven 
hundred dollars in gold which I had made by 
giving my course of lectures on the philosophy 
of history. I stayed a year and three months, 
saw the real kindergarten, and came back to 
devote myself to its introduction into America." 

Ret irning to this country. Miss Peabody re- 
solved to leave the practical work of estab- 
lishing kindergartens to others and devote her 
time to lecturing and -m-iting on the subject, 
in the hope of creating a general public senti- 
ment in America favorable to the kindergarten. 
While she was absent in Europe Madam Ma- 
tilda H. Kriege, and her daughter. Alma 
Kriege, undertook to carry on the kindergarten 
department of a German school in New York, 
but after a few mouths they were persuaded by 
Mrs. Mann, the sister of Miss Peabody, to 
remove their work to Boston. So it happened 
in September, 1868, that the kiudergartec 
which Miss Peabody and Miss Corlees had 
maintained for some years was transferred to 
Madam Kriege and her daughter, a new lo- 
cation being secured on Charles street and a 
training school opened in connection with it. 

Both teachers had received their training 
from the Baroness in Berlin and the elder one 
was a personal friend of Froibel. Both of them 
had lived for some years in this country be- 
fore taking their training and were therefore 
thoroughly famihar with English. Madam 
Kriege brought with her from Germany kinder- 
garten material and also a hand machine for 
cutting the wea^•ing mats. "S^Tiile in New 
York she induced Mr. E. Steiger to begin im- 
porting material, and on reaching Boston she 
sold the machine to Mr. J. L. Hammett, a 
dealer in school supplies, and led him to be- 
gin manufacturing the building gifts in a limit- 
ed way. Thus it was that the kindergarten 
gained a foothold in New England, for al- 
though the first normal class taught by the 



306 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



Krieges graduated but two women, the seed 
was sowu for an abundant harvest iu the future. 

When Miss Peabody started out to conquer 
the country for the kindergarten she made 
Springfield, Mass., one of her lirst stopping- 
places, giving an evening lecture on the new 
education in the liall of the Elm Street School 
building. Mr. Milton Bradley was present on 
that occasion, and having heard Miss Pea- 
bodj''s presentation of the case, was subse- 
quently persuaded by Mr. Eldward Wiebe to 
publish "The Paradise of Childhood," which 
first appeared in 1869, and began in his fac- 
tory the making of kindergarlen material on a 
larger scale than Mr. Hammetthad found pos- 
sible as a merchant. 

At this point in the narrative mention should 
be made of Dr. Henry Barnard, for many 
years secretary of the Connecticut Board of 
Education and editor of "The Connecticut 
Common School" and "The American Journal 
of Education." In 1854 the General Assembly 
of Connecticut sent him to the International 
Educational Exposition and Congress, held at 
St. Martin's Hall, London, at which he was 
the sole representative from this country. He 
was then so impressed with Mr. Hoffman's 
exhibit of the apparatus devised by Froebel 
and the kindergarten conducted by Madam 
Ronge that he commended both in his official 
report to the govenor of Connecticut and also 
wrote an article on "Froebel's System of In- 
fant Gardens" for "The American Journal of 
Education" of July, 1856, which it is said con- 
tained the first mention of tiie kindergarten 
that ever appeared in an American periodical. 
From that time for a series of years Dr. 
Barnard continued to explain and agitate the 
kindergarten system, and in 1868 and 1870, 
as national commissioner of education, he rec- 
ommended to Congress that iu establishing a 
system of public schools for the District of 
Columbia the kindergarten should be given an 
important place. As soon as Miss Peabody 
took up the cause Dr Barnard became a co- 
laborer with her, and has never ceased to do 
what he could for its advancement. In IS^il 
he published "Kindergarten and Child Culture 
Papers" in a book of eight hundred pages, 
and at the present time, 1896, he is still li\ang 
in serene old age at Hartford, Conn. 

In 1870 Miss Peabody succeeded iu getting 
the city of Boston to establish a public kinder- 



garten, which was maintained for seven years 
with growing interest, and then given up be- 
cause the committee felt that it would cost too 
much to meet the demand which had sprung 
up for kindergartens in other parts of the city, 
and th.Tt to continue supporting a single one 
would be unfair. Meanwhile, in 1872, Madam 
Kriege and her daughter had gone back to 
Germany, although they afterwards returned 
to New York and had a kindergarten iu con- 
nection with a private school, ultimately set- 
tling once more in the land of Frrebel, where 
they still reside. Madam Kriege made a free 
rendering of "The Child, Its Nature and Re- 
lations," by the Baroness, and Miss Kriege 
compiled "Rhymes and Tales for the Kinder- 
garten and the Nursery," botii being valuable 
additions to the very limited kindergarten lit- 
erature of that day to lie found in this country. 

In 1877 Mrs. Quincy A. Shaw opened a sum- 
mer kindergarten at Brookline and another at 
Jamaica Plain at her own cost, continuing 
them through the year. Others were sooa 
added, and in 1883 Mrs. Shaw supported 
thirty-one kindergartens in Boston and \ncin- 
ity. Afterwards the number was reduced to 
fourteen and in 1892 the city assumed the 
whole responsibility of the work, till then so 
liberally sustained by Mrs. Shaw. During 
the later years of her life Miss Peabody was 
obliged to withdraw from active service be- 
cause of failing health, and she died at Ja- 
maica Plain, January 3, 1894. 

Mention should also be made here of Miss 
Emma Marwedel, one of the German kiuder- 
gartners who were persuaded by Jliss Pea- 
body to transfer their work to this country. 
She graduated from the Normal School at 
Berlin, went to Washington, D. C, in 1872, 
to open a training school, removing to Los 
Angeles, Cal., in 1876 for the same purpose. 
Two years later she went to Oakland, being 
one of the founders of the Central kindergar- 
ten. She gave the rest of her life to 
teaching and lecturing at the Berkeley Uni- 
versity, Oakland, and at Palo Alto. She 
wrote "Conscious Motherhood" and an "Illus- 
trated Botany." Her death occurred at San 
Francisco, November 17, 1893, at the age of 
seventy-five. Neither should the record be 
silent regarding the work of John Kraus and 
his wife, Maria Kraus-Boelte. He came to 
America in 1851 and was appointed an assis- 



PARADISE OF CHILDHOOD. 



307 



tant in the National Bureau of Education in 
1867 and in this relation Dr. Barnard, who 
was at the head of the bui-eau, says that his 
efforts were unceasingly devoted to the kinder- 
garten cause. An elalaorate article by him on 
"The Rise and Progress of the Kindergarten" 
was published in the bureau report in 1871. 
Two years later he went to New York by in- 
vitation of Miss Henrietta B. Haines to help 
establish a training class, where he remained 
till his death, March 4, 1896. In 1872 Miss 
Haines went to Europe to secure the ser^•ices 
of Maria Boelte, who had been trained by 
Madam Froebel at Hamburg and had assisted 
Madam Konge in England and afterwards con- 
ducted a kindergarten of her own at Lubeck. 
She decided to come to New York and in a 
short time married Prof. Kraus, the two con- 
tinuing to work together in behalf of the cause 
as long as he lived. They published an elabo- 
rate work called "The Kindergarten Guide." 

Dr. W. N. Haihnann was one of the earliest 
writers on kindergarten matters in this coun- 
ti-y, his first book being "Kindergarten Cul- 
ture for the Family and School," which has 
been followed by a number of other works. 
For some years he edited "The New Educa- 
tion," the successor to Miss Peabody's "Kin- 
dergarten Messenger," and has also translated 
and annotated Froebel's "Education of Man." 
In 1884 the kindergarten department of the 
National Educational Association was estab- 
lished, largely through the efforts of Dr. Hail- 
mann, then superintendent of schools at La 
Porte, Ind. His wife, Mrs. Eudora L. Hail- 
mann, was for a long time at the head of a 
training class at La Porte, and now has a 
class at Washington. Dr. Haihnann is gov- 
ernment superintendent of Indian Schools. 

Coming back to New England for a moment 
it is well to note that Mrs. Louise Pollock, 
who lived at Weston, Mass., became inter- 
ested in the kindergarten as early as 1861, 
throngh her mother in Berlin, who sent her 
whatever had been published in Germany on 
that subject, and began to write about it in 
the newspapers. In 1862 she carried on a 
kindergarten at West Newton, in connection 
with the Classical Institute of which Mr. N. 
T. Allen was principal. In 1873 her daughter, 
Susan P. Pollock, who had meanwhile taken 
the ti'aining in Berlin, was appointed to teach 
a public kindergarten at Brighton. Shortly 



after that mother and daughter removed to 
Washington, D. C, the former having pre- 
viously spent some mouths of study in Ger- 
many. At the present time Miss Mary J. 
Garland, one of Madam Kriege's earliest 
graduates, is a leader in the work of kinder- 
garten instruction in Boston. Miss Rebecca 
J. Weston who was associated with her for 
many years died in 1895. 

Prof. Felix Adler and Rev. Dr. Heber New- 
ton were among the pioneers in New York, 
and in 1878 they undertook to bring the chil- 
dren of the working people under kindergarten 
influence. Prof. Adler established a free kin- 
dergarten in January, which became the foun- 
dation for a school having a full course up to 
fourteen years, the principles of the kinder- 
garten being preserved through all the grades. 
In March Dr. Newton opened the first mission 
kindergarten, which was connected with his 
church on Madison Avenue and has since 
been a model for similar church work all over 
the country. About the same time the city 
started a public kindergarten at the Normal 
College, which soon developed into a training 
department, and the Hebrew Free School As- 
sociation also took up the work. Some years 
later the Teachers College was established, an 
institution which from the outset made the 
kindergarten the basis of its work, and in 
1890 was influential in forming the New York 
Kindergarten Association, which maintains 
several kindergartens. The Children's Aid 
Society has a kindergarten attached to each 
of its schools and there are a few supported 
by the school board. The names of Miss An- 
geline Brooks and Miss Caroline T. Haven are 
always prominently mentioned in connection 
with the New York work, the former having 
been for a long time connected with the 
Teachers College and the latter with the Ethi- 
cal Culture Schools. The same can be said 
of Miss Alice E. Fitts and Miss Hannah D. 
Mowry in reference to Brooklyn, because their 
influence in behalf of the Pratt Institute kin- 
dergarten department and throughout the city 
has been potent for years. 

St. Louis was early in the field for promo- 
ting the kindergarten. About 1873 Miss 
Susan E. Blow petitioned the school board for 
a room in which to make the first local experi- 
ment and she very soon opened a training 
school, giving her services without salary, 



308 



GOLDEN JUBILEE EDITION. 



which was continued for twelve years. Such 
beginnings stimul.ated the growth of pulilic 
kindergartens, which was judiciously fostered 
by Dr. William T. Harris, who was then su- 
perintendent of city schools. Aside from the 
public kindergartens there have been for a 
long time a number connected with private 
schools and some that are free to children be- 
low the school age, the latter being supported 
by charitable organizations. Miss Blow has 
pubhshed within a few years "Symbolic Edu- 
cation," a commentary on Froebel's "Mother 
Play" and also "The Mottoes and Commen- 
taries" and "The Songs and Music" of tlie 
"Mother Pl.ay," with the help of other authors. 

The Chicago Fra'l)el Association grew out 
of a small mothers' class that was formed in 
1873, and some montlis later Mrs. John Og- 
den came there from Columbus, 0., to spend 
a year in the city conducting a kindergarten 
and training class. Mrs. Alice H. Putnam, 
Miss Sara Eddy and Miss Josephine Jarvis 
took up the work where she left it. Miss 
JarNns has since translated "The Education of 
Man" and Fra'bel's "Pedagogics of the Kin- 
dergarten." The first free kindergarten in 
Chicago was opened at the Moody Chanel on 
Chicago Avenue by Mrs. E. W. Blatchtord. 
In 1891 the school board voted to adopt all 
the kindergartens of the association that 
were located in the public school buildings. 

A distinctive feature of the Chicago work 
has been for years along the lines of the col- 
lege settlement idea, the beginning being made 
at Hull House bj' two young women who were 
familiar with the Toynbee Hall enterprise in 
London, with constantly extending results in 
different sections of the city. The Chicago 
Free Kindergarten Association, with head- 
quarters at Armour Institute and Miss Eva B. 
Whitmore as superintendent and Miss Anna 
E. Bryan principal of the training class, sup- 
ports twenty-flve kindergartens and the tu- 
ition is free. The Chicago Kindergarten Co' 
lege, of which Miss Elizabeth Harrison is 
principal and Mrs. J. N. Crouse director, is 
an influential factor in whatever pertains to 
kindergarten interests in Chicago, and so is 
the Kindergarten Institute, of which Mrs. 
Mary Boomer Page is the principal. 

The kindergarten movement in San Fran- 
cisco began in tlie Bible class of Mrs. Sarah 
B. Cooper, in October, 1879. She was able 



to influence public sentiment powerfully in 
favor of the cause by writing a series of arti- 
cles for the leading newspapers. Subscrip- 
tions poured in, the Golden Gate Association 
was formed, and a wonderful work began. 
The California record of Kate Douglas Wiggin 
(Mrs. Riggs) and her sister, Nora Archi- 
bald Smith, two of the most brilliant contribu- 
tors to kindergarten literature that America 
can boast, is too well-known to need extended 
re^^ew. 

In Philadelphia the work was liegun by the 
Sub-primary School Society, Miss Constance 
Mackenzie liecoming the first public super- 
visor. Mrs. M. L. Van Kirk has maintained 
a training class there for many years, sending 
out a multitude of graduates throughout the 
country. At Baltimore the Free Association 
supports a number of kindergartens and there 
is also in the city a flourishing training class. 
At Washington Mrs. Louise Pollock and her 
daughter. Miss Susan P. Pollock, began to 
hold up the kindergarten banner in 1873, and 
man}' others have since joined in the cam- 
paign, including Mrs. Louisa Mann, who is 
the wife of a nephew of Miss Peabody. Favor- 
able mention should also be made of Cincin- 
nati, Louisville, Albanj', Buffalo, Columbus, 
Indianapolis, Detroit, Milwaukee and Minne- 
apolis, because of their associations and train- 
ing classes. The kindergarten is also very in- 
fluential in some parts of Canada, particularly 
in the city of Toronto, under the lead of In- 
spector James L. Hughes, who is ably assisted 
by his wife, iNIrs. Ada Mareau Hughes. 

In 1889 the Legislature of the state of In- 
diana enacted a law which enabled all school 
boards of the state to make the kindergarten 
a part of their schools. Since that, Michigan, 
Ohio, Illinois, Colorado, Iowa and several 
other states have passed similar laws. 
While the public have not taken advantage of 
the provisions of the laws in all cases as 
rapidly as the friends of the measures hoped, 
t'^e kindergarten sentiment is rapidly advan- 
cinp;, and a large number of the most thought- 
ful ])eople are urging their school boards to 
make the kindergarten a component part of 
their schools as rapidly as possible. 

At this point the record must close, an at- 
tempt having been made merely to outline the 
American work. To include the names of all 
earnest workers would require many pages.* 



* For later dc\-eloi3mt'nts, consult "Tlic Kindergarten in American Education," Nina C. \'anderwall£er. 



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